The Planets Crisis
by twilight girl456
Summary: She survived the Nibelheim inccident five years earlier,and went to live in the city.She has a hatered for Shinra and SOLDIER,and wants absoltely nothing to do with them, but will she be wiling to help stop them for the planet?CloudxOC
1. Prologue

1. Prologue: 5 years ago-

Nibelheim was a small town in the mountain countryside. It was nested right under the great mountains of Mt. Nibel. It was a quaint and small little town full of kind people. Everyone lived peaceful lives, until one day, people from Shinra came. Two First Class soldiers, one the well known General Sephiroth. Everyone was actually quite ecstatic to see such famous person come to such a little quiet town like Nibelheim. Everyone was always talking about him while in the town, saying how amazing and great he was. But unlike everyone else, I didn't really care about that. My best friend left town a few years earlier to go and join SOLDIER. He wanted to be as great as the general himself. I had hoped that maybe he had come along with the two first classes, but I didn't find him at all. But I met someone who looked a lot like him. Only, he had black hair that wasn't exactly as spiky and blonde.

He had eyes that were like the color of the sky. He was a big flirt too! He was the other first class soldier that had come along with the general, along with two grunts. I don't remember his name, but he was a really good guy. Shinra had sent them to Nibelheim to go up in Mt. Nibel to check up on the Mako reactor. Lately, monsters had been appearing, coming down from the mountain, and scaring pretty much everybody. Even I had been attacked, but I was unharmed because I knew how to use a sword and fight with martial arts.

Anyway, after they went up to check on the reactor, and had come back down, something was wrong with Sephiroth. He seemed…sad and confused, mixed with a bit of anger too. He then went and stayed inside the basement of the old Shinra mansion. All the townspeople were beginning to grow a bit nervous, along with frightened. They got the other soldier to go inside and check on him to see what was wrong with him. He told everyone that Sephiroth was just having a bit of a hard time with something, and for no one to worry.

They remained in the mansion for 7 days straight. And it wasn't until that 7th day, that all hell broke loose. The great General Sephiroth went mad. He set the town on fire, and killed everyone. He broke down the doors of peoples houses, and went inside and killed them. He came to my house, and my mom…she pushed me out the backdoor, and told me to run, and to not turn back. My mom was a Chocobo breeder, and we had several of our own. I hopped onto one with my sword and all, along with several belongings that I had packed for a trip that I had been planning to go on a few days later. Just as I was riding away, saw Sephiroth's sword go through my own mother.

From then on, I hated Shinra and SOLDIER. I don't how long I had been riding, but I remember that I never stopped. I probably had been riding for days on, until I passed out from exhaustion, and fell off the Chocobo. I remember waking up in a town called Gongaga, in a house of a kind couple who had found me and taken me in. After a few days, I got my strength back, and left.

I was going to live in the city of Midgar. I didn't want to think about Nibelheim. I wanted to get the countryside scenery out of my head. I wanted to surround myself with city people. But most of all, I just wanted to forget everything that had happened.

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A/N: NOOO! I swore I wasn't going to publish anything else until I had something else finished! I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! But I really need a change of scenery. I am stuck on the Untold Story, because I cant think of anything to write in to give time before I start up with the DoC plot in the story. So, this is going to be a Cloud and OC story, and I wanna know what you guys think so far! Oh, and if you can, someone think of titles for this story, because I am fresh out! So, if you have a good title in mind for this story, put it in a review, and if I choose your title, you will be recognized! Ok, LATER TATERS!


	2. Long Time, No See!

A/N: Yea, I'm an awful authoress if I'm starting another story when I have like 7 that have yet to be complete. I just need to take a break from those other stories for awhile, plus I have had this idea for awhile and it's been bugging me to write it! So, like I said last time, I need a title for this story.

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1. Long time, No see!

**5 years later-**

I walked out of my little house and into the open streets of the Midgar Slums of Sector 7. As usual, people were hustling and bustling about. I sighed to myself, before heading off for my destination. Sorry, allow me to introduce myself: My name is Mimi Collins, I'm 21 years old, and I was born and raised in Nibelheim. I came to Midgar to forget everything I have suffered through in the past, and so far, its been working. I have my own little house in the sector 7 slums, and sort of well paying job. I work in bar called 7th heaven as waitress, and a part time babysitter. Today, I didn't have to work, so I was going to go visit the old church in sector 5.

I usually go buy a flower or two from a friend who sells them. Yeah, flowers! Who would've thought that there would be flowers growing in old Midgar! It seems impossible for two reasons: 1) There's no sunlight down here, and 2) the soil isn't good enough to grow anything. But somehow, they miraculously found a way to grow!

I walked towards the train station, which I always pass by when I head to the church. Strangely, it was not as busy as I had thought. No one was there, except for a guard, and a guy that was on the ground, sitting there, leaning against the stairs. I thought it was just some unfortunate man who was just resting while waiting for someone, until I heard a groan of what sounded like pain. I gasped, running over to the guy.

I leant down in front of him. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked, my head full of worry. I noticed this guy had blonde spiky hair, that resembled that of a Chocobo. He remained slumped forward still, so I shook his shoulder a bit. "Are you alright?"

He groaned a bit, before shaking his head a bit, and looking up at me. I felt my eyes widen and my breath hitch in my throat when I saw who it was. Sky blue eyes came into my line of vision as the guy looked at me with a bit of confusion on his face.

"Mimi?" He mumbled out, sounding like he hadn't had anything to drink in days. "Mimi, is it really you?"

'_No way! It cant be….I must be dreaming! There's no way this guy is him! But…never hurts to make sure.' _

I gulped a bit before speaking. "Cloud?…Is that….Is that really you?"

He smiled a bit, nodding in the process. "Yeah, it's really me."

Cloud Strife was sitting here, in front of me, alive, and unharmed from the looks of it. Why this is such a very big moment, you ask? Well, Cloud is my best friend, who I haven't heard from until now.

"How long has it been? 7 years?" Cloud asked, standing up to stretch.

"Yeah…it has." I stood up next to him, watching him as he stretched. I took notice that he looked a bit bulkier and less lanky since the last time I had seen him. He also looked bit taller too, but then again, he's always been taller than me. He was wearing a first class SOLDIER uniform, with a giant sword latched onto his back. I felt myself begin to tear up as I looked at him. I couldn't believe he was alive after all these years, and he hadn't even bothered to contact me! I only got one letter from him after he had left! ONE! JUST ONE! Not only was I happy to see him, but I was mad too!

"Hey, you ok?" Cloud asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at him and frowned. "You spiky headed jerk!" I punched him in the arm and he let go of me to rub on it.

"Ow! What was that for?" Cloud asked, looking at me with a startled and confused expression.

"For not telling me you were still alive and walking around somewhere on the planet! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?" I hit threw another punch to his arm, but he grabbed my hand before it could hit.

"Stop hitting me. Look, I'm sorry that I never contacted you. Its been pretty hard these past few years."

"So, I see you achieved your dream." I smiled a bit, changing the subject while pointing at his clothes. "First Class SOLDIER, Cloud Strife."

He smirked. "That would be Ex-First Class SOLDIER, Cloud Strife."

"Ex? You mean, you quit?" Wow…I cant believe I just asked the obvious.

"After the Nibelheim incident, yeah. Listen, can we maybe go somewhere else. I'm pretty thirsty and hungry." I heard his stomach growl, and I giggled a bit, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

"C'mon! I know just the place! It's where I work, and Tifa's there too!" I could sense the surprise in him when I mentioned Tifa's name, and I couldn't help but smile as I dragged him along with me.

"TIFA!" I shouted as Cloud and I busted through the doors, causing Tifa to look up in surprise, a smile on her face.

"Mimi, what're you doing here? It's your day off." Tifa said, a small smile gracing her face.

"I know, but look!" I shoved Cloud in front of me. "Look who I found!"

Tifa looked at him for a minute, before she finally recognized him. "Cloud, its been a long time. How've you been?"

It was just questions and questions between the two, and I was beginning to feel a bit left out, so…I decided I'd go home and leave them to talk, seeing as my presence wasn't being acknowledged whatsoever.

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A/N: So, how does it sound so far? Let me know! Please review! LATER TATERS!


	3. The First Mission

A/N: Yeah, I guess I am just writing this for simple entertainment for myself, being as only one person has reviewed! So….REVIEW! I apologize if Cloud may seem a little to OCC, but get over it! So, yea, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit mean in this author note, but I just had a really bad day, so I'm cranky. Like always, I love my awesome reviewers! Now go out and enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my wonderful oc, Mimi Collins, and my own copy of FF7! Everything else sadly belongs to Square Enix, including Cloud T-T.

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2. The First Mission

I listened carefully as our mission was being explained to us. Yep. Mission. I'm part of an anti-Shinra group called AVALANCHE, led by a man named Barret Wallace, who has a gun grafted into his arm. Our humble little group consists of 3 other people, 5 counting myself, and now Cloud. Amazingly, Tifa somehow talked him into helping us, but apparently from what he has told me, he's only doing it for the money, and nothing else.

Right now, we were sitting inside a train that was just pulling into the station closest to the reactor we would be infiltrating, placing a bomb on the reactor and blowing it up.

As we came to a complete standstill, we waited for the signal from Barret to move out.

"GO!" Barret shouted, pulling the doors open, allowing all of us to jump out and knock out the guards that were at the station. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie ran ahead to go and open the gates, while Barret and I jumped out last, waiting for Cloud.

Cloud jumped down from the top of the train(yes, the top.) and onto the ground in front of us, his giant sword on his back.

"C'mon newcomer, follow me!" Barret ordered, not knowing Cloud's name yet. "You too, kid!" He ran ahead, me and Cloud running right behind him. Just before we could run up the stairs, two guards came running towards us, gums in hand.

"Stop right there!" One of them shouted.

I smirked to myself, jumping up in the air, and landing a swift kick to ones face, knocking him unconscious, while Cloud took care of the other one. I ran ahead to the others, and found them by the entrance gate.

"There you are!" I looked to see Biggs waving me over, Jessie kneeled on the ground in front of the gate, trying to screw around with the circuitry in the gates, and Wedge looking out for guards.

"Where'd Barret go?" I asked, just now realizing that our leader was currently absent.

"Went to make sure none of the guards came after us." Biggs explained, a smirk appearing on his face. "I tell 'ya, he's always acting like he's so big and all."

I laughed a bit. Biggs is a funny guy, who was about the same age as me, with brown hair and brown eyes, and pretty well built. He was also a pretty big flirt when he wasn't on the job. He's the kind of guy that you can befriend easily without a problem. Biggs thinks that Barret acts like he's tougher than everyone else, when he really isn't, but he never says anything because he knows that Barret would probably give him a broken nose.

Jessie was the same age as me, with dirty blonde hair that was always tied up in a bun, with brown eyes. She's a sweet girl with a friendly personality, although she overreacts a lot of times about little things, and is a wary person. Jessie is our computer geek in our little group, and an expert bomb builder. Without her, we wouldn't be able to do a whole lot.

And lastly, there's Wedge. Wedge is the youngest member in our group, being 19 years old. He's a little roly poly, blaming his weight on Tifa's cooking, which she always lets him test. Wedge is a sweet kid, who is friendly towards everyone. He's our look out guard for everything, and a good one at that. Wedge is one of those types who always doubts his friendly behavior, though he really shouldn't.

"So, what do you know about the newbie?" Biggs asked me while we waited for Cloud to arrive.

"He used to be in SOLDIER." I said, stopping as soon as I saw Cloud coming over to us.

"Wow! You used to be in SOLDIER all right!" Biggs exclaimed, amazed at how such a thing could be true. "Not everyday 'ya find one in a group like AVALANCHE." So true…

Jessie stopped what she was doing when she heard us talking, and turned around to look at me and Biggs. "SOLDIER? Aren't they the enemy?" She looked shocked as she turned to look at Cloud. "What's he doing here with us in AVALANCHE?"

I mentally smacked my forehead at how she was overreacting, and clearly not paying attention to what Biggs had said before. Biggs turned to look at her, waving his hands in a way to tell her to listen.

"Hold it, Jessie. He WAS in SOLDIER." Biggs explained. "But he quit and is part of the team now."

"Hence the word Ex." I added in, making sure she understood.

Biggs nodded his head in agreement, turning to look back at Cloud. "Didn't catch your name."

Cloud looked each of them over once before speaking. "…Cloud."

Biggs smiled. "Cloud, eh? I'm-" Cloud cut him off by speaking first, shaking his head at the same time.

"I don't care what your names are." Biggs frowned a little at the sudden rudeness. "Once this job's over, I'm outta here."

Biggs was about to say something back, and judging by the peeved look on his face, it didn't look like it was going to be something nice. Luckily, Barret showed up before he could speak.

Barret looked at us all like we were stupid, which, in his eyes, we are. "The hell you all doin'! I thought I told you to never move in a group!" He yelled, shaking his head in sadness of our stupidity, before re-briefing us on our mission. "Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it."

Just as soon as he had finished saying that, Jessie got the gates open, she, Wedge, and Biggs ran on ahead, leaving me and Cloud behind with Barret. Barret began to run in, but stopped to turn around and face Cloud.

"Ex-SOLDIER, huh?" He asked, giving a frown at Cloud, as I ran past him and ahead with the others. "Don't trust 'ya!"

I sighed, mentally pitying Cloud for having so many people doubting him because of what he used to do. I was running alone until Cloud came to run in step beside me. I gave him a sympathetic smile, before turning my attention to a giant sign higher up. Of course, as soon as I saw the others run under it, it began to flash, saying there were intruders, which is us. I ignored it, and ran inside with the others, meeting them up on the bridge, where Biggs was currently trying to crack the pass code to open the doors.

"Yo! This your first time in reactor?" Barret asked as Cloud approached. I mentally yelled inside my head that everyone who already knew he used to be in SOLDIER was stupid. If was with SOLDIER, of course he would have been inside a reactor before!

"No. After all, I did work for Shinra, y'know." Cloud said.

Barret nodded, before going into his lecture that he gave newcomers all the time.

"The planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it everyday." Barret looked back at Cloud, who only shrugged his shoulders, as if saying 'So?'. Barret got mad, and began stomping his feet around, waving his arms in the air to emphasize his point. "It's the life blood of this planet. But Shinra suckin' the blood out with these weird machines."

Cloud rolled his eyes at Barret. "I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just hurry."

The action made Barret a little bit more mad. "That's it! You're comin' with me from now on." Barret looked over at me. "You too, kid!" Joy.

"Ok. Hey, Biggs, open the door!" I demanded, poking him in the arm.

"Ok, ok! Code deciphered." He punched in the numbers, and the doors opened, allowing us to run in and to the next one, which Jessie opened.

From there, we ran into the elevator, Jessie, Cloud, Barret, and I. Once inside, Jessie pointed to a button. "Push that button over there!" She ordered Cloud, who complied, and the elevator began to move.

"Little by little, the reactors'll drain out all the life. And that'll be that." Barret said sadly, hoping that Cloud would understand.

Once again, Cloud shrugged his shoulders in an uncaring manner. "It's not my problem."

I looked at him with a sad expression, and mad that he was acting so uncaring. It only made Barret mad.

"The planet's dyin', Cloud!" Once more, Cloud did nothing to acknowledge that he cared about the planet, causing Barret to sigh in frustration

"The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come."

Barret turned away, a fist raised as if he were just about ready to punch Cloud in the face. I looked at Barret worriedly, knowing that if he hit him, it would not end well. "Barret…" I warned him, causing him to look at me with an annoyed expression. He sighed loudly and put his hand back to his side when he saw the warning look on my face.

I was beginning to wish that I had stayed with Biggs instead of coming along with these two.

* * *

Jessie and Mimi stood at the top of the stairs, waiting for the other two that had gone to place the bomb onto the reactor. Mimi was sitting on the floor, leaning her head against the wall, slowly dozing off a bit. Just as she was almost asleep, an alarm going off startled her, causing her to shoot up.

"Looks like that's our cue to skedaddle!" Mimi said, standing up, motioning over to Jessie that they should get out. Jessie nodded, and the two set off to run. But before the two could get too far, Jessie fell over, her leg caught in one of the slots on the floor.

"Oh no! My leg!" Jessie exclaimed as Mimi ran back to her. She tugged on it, but it wouldn't move. "It's stuck!"

"Here give me your hands!" Jessie did as told, and Mimi took them into her own, and began to try and pull her up. But no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't get her up.

"Of all the times that this could've happened, it had to happen now…" Mimi grumbled under her breath.

"There's only ten minutes until the bomb goes off!" Jessie exclaimed as Mimi continued to pull and pull.

"Gaia, why'd you have to put such a small amount of time on this one!" Mimi shouted, falling backwards as she failed to get Jessie's leg unstuck.

"Just go on and leave me behind! It was nice while it lasted!" Jessie said, a sad face appearing.

Mimi frowned at her. "No! No one ever gets left behind, that's my motto! I'm not going anywhere, even if it means I die!" She grabbed Jessie's hands again, and gave another strong tug, only to fall backwards again.

"I really need to work on my upper body strength…" Mimi mumbled under her breath, before trying again. "It's not use. You're really stuck."

Just before she could try again, Cloud and Barret appeared, Cloud walking over and helping Jessie, freeing her leg. "You ok?"

Jessie nodded. "My leg got stuck." She explained, rubbing it a little before turning around to smile at him. "Thanks!" She jumped over him and ran towards the elevator, Mimi not saying anything to Cloud, and running after Jessie.

0o0o0o0o0o

"Where's Barret and Cloud?" Biggs asked as Jessie and I walked out from the elevator.

"There comin', so someone just hurry and open the damn doors!" I exclaimed, Barret and Cloud walking out of the elevator right when I said that.

Jessie opened the door, and Biggs opened the next one, allowing us to run back outside for Wedge. All of us hurried off of the bridge, Cloud stopping to help up Jessie who had fallen, and running in just in time as soon as the reactor blew, causing us to be entrapped in some rubble.

At least none of us had died.

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A/N: Sorry about the hold up, but I finished it finally. Sorry if it was a bit to long, but just try and live with it, ok? Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review please! LATER TATERS!


	4. Please Stay?

A/N: Yep…sorry for not updating right away, but I was being a bit lazy about it. So, here you go!

Disclaimer: Even though I have my own copy of the game, I technically don't own Final Fantasy 7. I just own this story and my oc, Mimi Collins.

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3. Please stay

'_Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep.'_ Was the only sound I could hear as I regained consciousness. I opened my eyes to find that Jessie was setting up a bomb to blow out an exit from the rubble so we could get back to base. My head felt terrible, and I guessed that I had probably gotten hit with something.

"That should keep the planet going…" Biggs said, before his expression faltered a bit. "at least a little longer."

"Yeah." Wedge said in agreement.

I sat and groaned. "Man, I feel like I got hit with a bag of bricks." Biggs came over and helped me stand up, steadying me a bit so I wouldn't fall over and hurt myself any more.

"Yeah, well your head looks like it did." He said, touching a large knot on my, causing me to wince.

Jessie stood up, and turned around to face. "Ok! Now everyone get back." We all ran, or in my case, wobbled, to the end of the tunnel, far away from the bomb, the only sound was a loud boom, and a lot of flames.

Cloud went first, rolling through them carefully, Barret jumping through after him, Biggs and me next, along with Jessie, and lastly, Wedge.

**"AH! HOT, HOT! OUCH!"** Wedge exclaimed, running around in circles, trying to pat down the flames on pants. I kept my laughter inside, not wanting to make him mad.

Eventually, he had them out and made his way over to us.

"Alright, now let's get out of here. Rendezvous at the Sector 8 station. Split up and get on the train!" From there, we all went our own ways.

I ran along, making it to the station first, and hopping into the designated cargo car, waiting for everyone else. Soon afterwards, Biggs showed up, followed by Jessie and Wedge, and eventually Barret.

When the train started moving, I looked around worriedly. "What about Cloud? We cant just leave Cloud."

No one said anything, and I looked down at the floor, becoming silent like the rest of them. I jumped a bit when I heard a loud thump come from the top of the car.

"Cloud never came." Wedge stated the obvious.

"Cloud…..Wonder if he was killed?" Biggs asked no one in particular.

"No way!" Barret exclaimed,

Jessie looked down at the floor sadly, mumbling Cloud's name.

"Look, Cloud can take care of himself and I highly doubt he's dead, so quit thinking about it, all of you." My words were followed by another loud thump from the top of the car, causing all of us to look up. Everyone else looked back down, but my gaze remained on the ceiling.

"Say," Biggs began, "Do you think Cloud's….Going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE!"

"The hell would I know! Do I look like a mind reader?" Barret retorted in annoyance, hitting his fist on one of the crates. "Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-up's…"

"Yeah we know. If we weren't such screw-up's we would do a better job, yadda, yadda…" I mumbled back, annoyed that he thought we could never do a good job.

"Hey, Barret! What about our money…?" Wedge asked, the rest of us looking at him with a shocked face. Everyone already knew that Barret hated discussions that involved our pay.

Barret hit the crate again, causing Wedge to cower back some. "Uh, nothin'…Sorry." Wedge mumbled.

We were all silent again, until we heard another thump, followed by more thumps, until the door came open in front of me, and Cloud flipped in, landing on both feet, right in front of me.

"Cloud!" Everyone but me exclaimed in surprise. Cloud glanced around quickly.

"Looks like I'm a little late."

"You damn right, you're late!" Barret shouted as I stood up to stand next to my spiky haired friend. "Come waltzin' in here, makin' a big scene!"

Cloud smirked, flipping a piece of hair out of his face. "It's no big deal. Just what I always do."

Barret ignored the comment. "Shit! Havin' everyone worried like that! You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself"

Cloud smirked even wider. "So, you were worried about me?"

"WHA-! I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" Barret moved over to Wedge, yelling, "WAKE UP!" in his ear. He looked back at the rest of us. "We're movin' out! Follow me!" He jumped over and into the next car.

Wedge moved next, but turned back to face Cloud. "Hey, Cloud! You were great back there!" He jumped over to the next car.

Biggs walked in front of Cloud, scratching the back of his head as he laughed. "Hehe…..Cloud! We'll do even better next time." he moved off and jumped to the next car. Jessie moved over and shut the door, and began to move off, but not before turning back to smile at Cloud.

"Good work, Cloud!"

Soon, Cloud and I were the only ones left. I walked to stand right in front of him. He had soot all over his face, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, Cloud! You always loved to play in the dirt!" he looked at me with a confused expression and I laughed some more, before reaching my hands out and wiping off the dirt, cleaning his face off and making it not so dirty anymore. "There! Cloud, don't worry us like that again, ok?" I smiled at him before jumping onto the next car

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I leaned my head back against the wall while I sat in the seat. It was times like these I wished I had an ice-pack. Jessie was busy showing Cloud the Midgar rail system map, and Barret was resting. I was sitting next to Biggs, who had fallen asleep, leaning against the wall, mumbling something about Barret to stop acting so damn big and better than the rest of us.

"Ugh, this is so boring!" I groaned.

"Quit complaining an' shut your mouth!" Barret ordered.

Before I could argue back, the I.D Security check alarm went off, causing all of us to look around. After a few seconds, it went off, and Cloud walked over to the rest of us.

"Look…you can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night." Barret explained, looking out the window. "If that plate weren't there….we could see the sky."

The sky…I haven't seen the sky in five years. Everyday, when I wake up, I just wish that I could open my eyes to see it out my window…but even I know that's not possible.

Cloud approached me and looked out the window next to me. "A floating city…Pretty unsettling scenery."

Barret stood up, giving Cloud a questioning glance. "Huh? Never expected to hear that outta someone like you." he shook his head thoughtfully. "…you jus' full of surprises."

"You have no idea…" I muttered under my breath.

"The upper world…a city on a plate…" Barret then went into blaming everyone's suffering on the 'pizza' above. It was true though. Down here, the air is polluted, giving many people terribly bad breathing problems. Plus, the reactors sucking up all the planets energy made it just as worse.

"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?" Cloud asked

"Not a lot of people down here have that kind of money to do that, but….I think the reason that they don't is because they love their homes down here, even if it is full of gross and polluted air." I said, looking out the window as well.

"I know…no one lives in the Slums because they want to." Cloud said, looking back out the window. "It's like this train. It cant run anywhere except where its rails take it."

In other words, freedom down here was basically very limited.

* * *

"Ugh…" I groaned as I walked into the now empty bar, courtesy of Barret. "Tifa, icepack, now." She looked at me before grabbing the said item out of the freezer, and handing it to me.

I placed it against my throbbing head, wincing a bit as soon as the coldness hit the knot. When Cloud walked in, Marlene jumped down from the counter, and ran towards him.

**"PAPA!"** Marlene exclaimed, causing Cloud to jump a bit from the shock. Marlene realized she had the wrong person, and ran back and hid behind me.

Marlene Wallace, who is four years old, is Barret's daughter. She is the sweetest little girl, but she's also very shy. She's the only one that Barret is kind and sweet with. I smiled down at her, leaning down to her level as I held the ice-pack to my head.

"Marlene, aren't you going to say hello to Cloud?" Marlene made no reply, only ran forward to hide behind Tifa as she greeted Cloud.

"Welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well." She smiled warmly at him. "Did you fight with Barret?"

"Yeah." Cloud mumbled under his breath.

Tifa sighed. "I should've known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little." It was true. Cloud used to always get into fights when we were younger. "I was worried."

Cloud didn't reply, except pull something out of his pocket. I looked closely and noticed they were flowers, lilies to be exact. I smiled, knowing who he bought them from.

"Flowers? How nice…" Tifa mumbled. "You almost never see them here in the slums."

"More like all of Midgar." I added in, patting Marlene's head as she hugged my side.

Tifa's confused face turned into one with a happy grin. "A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have…" He handed her one, and then he gave another one to Marlene.

"No big." I smiled as Marlene inspected the flower, holding it to her closely.

I turned around and took a sip of my glass of water, when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned back around and saw Cloud holding out the other flower for me.

"For me?" I asked, taking the flower into my hands. He nodded his head, and I could tell he was blushing a little, causing me to smile. "Thank you, Cloud!"

He nodded, before going over to the door, only to run and jump up and take a seat on the nearest table as Barret came running through the door, causing all the rest of us to stand up as he ran by, and to Marlene.

"Papa, welcome home!" Marlene greeted as she hugged Barret.

Barret smiled at her. "Yeah."

Marlene jumped up into his arms, and Barret put her on his shoulder, carrying her around as if she were one pound. He noticed the flower and asked her where she got it.

"Cloud gave it to me."

"Oh….." Barret looked like he had nothing to say, until he asked Marlene this: "Did you thank him?"

She was silent for a minute, before turning around to look at Cloud and smile. "Thank you, Cloud. We'll take care of you."

Tifa smiled at Marlene before turning her attention to Barret. "You alright, Barret?"

Barret grinned. "Great!" His smile disappeared as he turned back to look at the rest of us. "Get in here, fools! We're startin' the meetin'!" He walked over to the little pinball machine and pressed the hidden button, and the thing went down to the underground room.

Biggs, Wedge, Jessie, and I jumped down after him.

Barret went over to the punching bag, and began kicking and hitting it, while Marlene sat on a crate next to him and watched. Jessie sat at the computer, working on things, while Wedge and Biggs looked over some plans for the next mission. Me? I sat on the floor in a corner far off by myself, resting. Everyone turned their attention over to Cloud as he came down, walking over to Barret.

"Yo, Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya." Barret said, stopping his attack on the punching bag. Cloud nodded, telling him to continue on with what he was saying. "Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

Cloud crossed his arms across his chest, looking down in though before shaking his head. "None. I'm positive."

Barret hit the punching bag again. "You sound pretty sure."

Cloud frowned at him. "If there was anyone from SOLDIER, you wouldn't be standing here now." Cloud said, his voice rising a little in tone.

Barret glared at him. "Don't go thinkin' you so bad jus' cuz you was in SOLDIER." Oh boy, here we go…

Barret lunged for Cloud, only to be grabbed by Biggs. Barret struggled to get free and hit Cloud as Biggs did his best to stop him.

"Barret, calm down man!" Biggs said, continuing his struggle to keep Barret back.

Cloud didn't do anything but smirk, crossing his arms as he stood on the other side of the room. Then, only then, Barret lost his cool. He turned around, and punched Biggs in the face, knocking him up into the air. Biggs hit the ceiling, and hit the ground with a thud and groan.

Sighing, I stood up. "I'll get the first aid kit."

"Yeah, you're strong. Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are." Barret said, glaring at Cloud. "But don't forget that your skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' onto Shinra."

That definitely hit a nerve inside Cloud. He turned around, looking at Barret in disbelief. "Stayin' with Shinra? You asked me a question and I answered it…that's all."

Cloud walked over to Barret, standing up and getting right into his face. I propped the unconscious Biggs up against the wall as I stood up.

"I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money." He made the move to leave, but Tifa ran down and stopped him.

"Wait, Cloud!"

"Tifa, let him go! Looks like he still misses Shinra!" Barret yelled.

"Shut-up!" Cloud shouted back. "I don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER!" He defended, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bad at how no one trusted him. He began to walk off again, but he stopped and turned around to look back at us. "But don't get me wrong! I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!" Everyone became silent.

"Cloud…" I mumbled sadly, watching him as he went back up.

Tifa made the move to go after him, but I beat her to it first, going up and finding Cloud fixing to walk out the door.

"So, that's it, huh?" I asked, staring at his back. "You're just gonna leave because of what others think? Because they don't trust you?"

"I'm sorry, Mimi…" Cloud muttered, looking down at the floor.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "The Planet is dying, Cloud. Slowly but surely it's dying. And someone has to do something to help it."

He turned around to look at me, shrugging his shoulders. "So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothin' to do with me." He turned back around and headed for the door, and I lost my cool at how harsh he was being.

"How can you be so selfish? What happened to the Cloud I was best friends with? Where'd he go, and why'd he replace himself with a selfish bastard like you?"

"How can you say that?" he asked, just as angry as me.

"Because it's true! All you care about is your stupid money for this job, and that's it! You don't care what happens to anyone else or the Planet, just as long as you get your damn money!" I turned around and went and sat at the bar, my back facing him.

"Mimi, I…" He was about to say something, but stopped when Tifa came up.

"Listen, Cloud. Both Mimi and are asking you. Please join us." Tifa asked. I scoffed when she mentioned my name.

"Sorry, Tifa…" Cloud mumbled, and I heard him moving back to the door.

Tifa stomped her foot in anger. "So! You're really leaving! You're just going to walk right out, ignoring your childhood friends!"

"…Sorry."

"…..You forgot the promise, too." Tifa mumbled sadly.

Oh, yeah that's right…that promise…that promise that he had broken with me. I was still mad at him for that.

"Promise?" Cloud asked.

"So, you DID forget. Remember…..Cloud. It was seven years ago…" Tifa said.

When he didn't say anything, I sighed loudly, standing up. "That night when you invited us up to the well. Remember how I kept saying that the stars were much prettier that night than any other one?"

He looked down again in thought, before nodding his head. "Yeah…back then. We sat around and waited for you. I thought that Tifa would never come, and I was getting a little cold."

_Flashback to seven years ago-_

"_Cloud, how much longer is this gonna take? I'm getting bored!"_

"_Don't worry, she'll be here any second now." _

_Right then, Tifa appeared, and walked over to us. "Sorry I'm late." She took a seat next to me, while Cloud sat on my other side. _

"_Now that we're all here, can you tell us what you wanted to say?" I asked, my patience almost gone from having to sit there for so long. _

_Cloud was silent for a moment, before looking up to the star filled sky. "Come this spring…I'm leaving this town for Midgar." _

_I felt my breath hitch when he said he was leaving, and my heart began to hurt with sadness. _

"_All the boy's are leaving our town." Tifa pointed out._

"_But I'm different from all of them. I'm not just going to find a job" He stood up and looked over at us, a big and determined smile on his face. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!" _

"_Sephiroth…The great Sephiroth." Tifa mumbled. "Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" _

_Cloud was on top of the well, looking down at me and Tifa. "Will you be able to come and visit often?" I asked, leaning my back against the well._

"…_I probably wont be able to come back to this town for awhile." He explained, and I frowned._

"_Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?" Tifa asked. _

"_I'll try." Cloud replied._

"_Hey, why don't we all make a promise?" Tifa suggested. _

_I nodded my head enthusiastically. "I like that idea. But what should we make a promise about?"_

_Tifa looked up thoughtfully. "Umm…if Cloud get's really famous, and we're ever in a bind….You'll come and save us, alright?" _

"_Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." Tifa explained. _

"_What?" _

"_C'mon! Promise me!" _

_Cloud nodded his head. "Alright…I promise."_

_Tifa turned to me. "What about you, Mimi? Anything you'd like to add in?"_

"_Hmm…." I thought about it for awhile, tapping my chin in thought. "Umm…well, like Tifa said, you'll come and save me if I'm ever in trouble too… and…you'll always remember me and our friendship. And promise me that you'll always be there for me, no matter what." _

"_Sure, I promise, Mimi."_

"_Oh, and Cloud, one last thing." I said, standing up and fixing to leave. _

"_What?"_

"_Don't ever change."_

_End flashback-_

"You remember now, don't you…our promises?" Tifa asked, trying to make sure he had completely remembered.

He shook his head. "I'm not a hero, and I'm not famous. I cant keep….the promise."

"So? You got your childhood dream of becoming a first class soldier, didn't you?" I asked, trying to convince him. He scratched the back of his head. "Look, you promised me that you'd always be there for me, no matter what. If you go off and leave right now, you'd be breaking that promise. So, please, Cloud…" I put a hand on his shoulder. "…Please don't go."

"Wait a sec big-time SOLDIER!" I turned around to see Barret standing behind Tifa. He began to struggle a bit, before speaking again. "A promise is a promise! Here!" He threw Cloud's pay at him. Cloud picked it up from the floor, and looked at with little interest.

"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh." I looked up at him, a grin rising onto my face.

"What? Then you'll..!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Then you'll stay?" I finished for her.

"You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000." Oh, no…

"WHAT?"

Tifa and I ran over to Barret, trying to calm him down. "It's ok, it's ok." Tifa said.

"Listen, we're really desperate for the help right?" I whispered to him.

"That money's for Marlene's schoolin'…" Barret replied. He turned back and headed to go back down to the basement. "2000!" Barret said, and that was as I high that he was going knowing him.

Tifa turned back around to look at Cloud. "Thanks, Cloud."

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A/N: Oh, gawd! This chapter was horrible! I screwed it up and I apologize if it's way too crappy! It just didn't turn out right….Well, thanks for at least reading to those of you that did! LATER TATERS!


	5. Operation Cross Dress!

A/N: Yeppers, I'm back because I got an extremely encouraging review! As much as I don't like copying down the script from the game word for word, I have to because if I didn't, then nothing would make sense, and everyone would be all OCC, something I try to avoid! I am going to tell you that sometimes, Mimi will be using some of the characters lines from the script if I cant think of anything to give her to say. Just note that I wont always be doing it on purpose. Ok, so thank you to reviewers that have added this to their favorites list! Now, on to the story!

Disclaimer: Yep, as much as I would love to say I own Final Fantasy 7, I know that if I do, I risk the threat of being sued, which is something that I cannot let happen, because I don't have enough money for court, plus I'm too young for being sued! But…what I can say I do own, are my original characters that I put in the story, my wonderful and fantabulous OC, Mimi Collins and anything related to her, and also, I own my own copy of the game!

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4. Operation crossdress!

I knelt down in front of Cloud, who was still sleeping away. I poked him a bit. "Hey, Cloud, time to wake up." I whispered. He still didn't budge, so I poked him again. "Cloud, wake up." I said, a bit louder this time. Once more, he didn't budge. **"HEY, CHOCOBO HEAD! WAKE UP!" **This time, he shot up, and I burst out into laughter as I ran back up, leaving him to glare at me as I left.

I was sitting out on today's mission so I could stay here and watch Marlene and the store, while everyone else was out. I watched Cloud as he came up and walked over to Barret and Tifa. I listened in as they talked.

"Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you!" Barret explained, talking to Cloud, all the sudden, getting a bit embarrassed. "I, uh….I don't really know how to use Materia!"

I spat out my orange juice as Barret explained what he wanted, snorting in laughter. Barret looked over at me, an angry look on his face.

"Shuddup, or I'm docking your pay!" Barret warned me.

"You barely pay me enough as it is anyway! And besides, I babysit for you for free, so if you fired me, you'd be losing the one babysitter who works for no pay, and I know that others don't come cheap." That shut him up, and he turned his attention back to Cloud, who began to give him a lesson in how to use Materia.I watched them while I wiped up the orange juice I had spat out, throwing the paper towel in the garbage can, and getting the disinfectant, squirting some onto the table, wiping the table again, making sure it was squeaky clean.

After Cloud was done explaining, Barret looked completely frustrated with himself. "Shi-! What's this 'It wasn't that tough!' crap! I'm clueless….."

I sighed loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Barret, if you still don't understand, then let Cloud handle the Materia for now." I went back to cleaning tables. "No need to be a crybaby because you still don't understand…" I muttered the last part to myself.

"What was that?" Barret asked, his voice booming.

"Nothing, nothing!" I said, finishing up the last table.

"That's what I thought. Well then, Cloud! You handle the Materia then!"

"I'm going along with you all this time." Tifa said. Cloud looked back at me, silently asking whether I was going along this time.

"No, I have to stay here and watch Marlene this time. But I'll see you all when you get back. Oh, that reminds me! Cloud, I got a message from the weapon shop man upstairs. He said he has something to give you, so go by there before you leave."

Tifa walked back over to me and Marlene. "Marlene, you help Mimi watch the store while we're gone, and don't forget to be a good girl for her!"

Marlene smiled. "Alright! Good luck."

"Be careful, all of you. I don't exactly want to treat wounds today." I said, making sure they understood, before they walked out and left.

"When do you think they'll be back?" Marlene asked me, handing me another glass to wash.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not sure. But knowing them, they'll be back before we know it!"

"Do you think anything bad will happen?" Marlene asked, a small and worried look on her little face.

"No, sweetie! Just wait and see, they'll all come back, safe and sound!" I reassured her.

"Even Cloud?" She asked me, a bit of amazement on her face.

I laughed lightly. "Yes, even Cloud! I mean, what can wrong? He'll come back too!"

**2 hours later-**

**"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT WITH YOU?"**

"There was an accident…He fell down into one of the sectors below." Tifa explained sadly, he face downcast.

The president of Shinra had shown up and attacked them. There had been a small explosion on the bridge that threw Cloud on the other side, hanging on for dear life, until he let go and fell. If he was alive, which I am sure he is, then he was probably lost, and wandering around.

"I'm going to look for him." I said, picking up my guitar and strapping it to my back, while strapping my sword to my side.

"Mimi, he could be anywhere. You're not going to be able to find him that fast!" Tifa said, trying to talk me out of it. "And why are you taking your guitar with you?"

"Because I go and play in Wall Market sometimes. Amazingly, they give a lot of gil for playing. Besides, if I get tired, I'll just stop and play for awhile and earn some gil. I'm behind on months worth of rent anyway."

With that said, I walked out, and out of Sector 7, heading straight towards Wall Market, hoping that I would find Cloud, alive and ok.

**3 hours later, in Wall Market-**

"My gawd, how hard is it to find one person?" I mumbled under my breath, taking a seat against a wall, unstrapping my guitar from my back, strumming a few cords. After a quick warm up, I began to play a little tune.

"Mimi?" I stopped when I heard someone shout my name, and I looked off to my left, and saw Cloud running towards me, another familiar face running behind him.

"Cloud! Thank Gaia you're ok!" I exclaimed standing up and running over to him, strapping my guitar back on to my back in the process. I looked over to the person standing next to him, smiling at her. "Hi, Aerith!"

"Hello, Mimi! It's been a few days since I last saw you. How've you been?" Aerith asked, a smile on her face.

"Eh, I've been alright…I see you've met my friend here." I gestured to Cloud.

"Actually, he met me. He fell through the roof of the church and landed in the flowerbed." Aerith explained.

"Are you alright?" I asked Cloud, looking him over, checking for any visible injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you see Tifa come through here on a carriage?"

Carriage…whoa, wait a minute…A carriage…there's only one place that has a carriage carry people there.

"Oh, no…" I smacked my forehead, a stress headache coming on. "No, I didn't see her, but I know where she went. Follow me."

About a few minutes later, we stood in front of the Honey-bee in. Cloud asked around for Tifa, and while he did that, Aerith and I waited.

"Heya Mimi!" I turned around and mentally groaned at who I saw. Johnny, the most annoying person I think that's around. We grew up with him in Nibelheim, and ever since we were kids, he's had this undying love for Tifa, though he really wouldn't ever admit it.

"Hello, Johnny." I said, annoyance dripping through my voice.

He noticed Cloud was here with me, standing a few feet away with Aerith next to him. "Hey, is he….?" He was gesturing at Cloud.

I stared at him in annoyance and disgust. "Don't bring him down to your level!" I smacked him the arm, before turning back towards Cloud and Aerith. "C'mon you two, I know where to go."

Both of them followed me out and back to the open streets. "So, where do we go?" Cloud asked me.

"Don Corneo's mansion. It's this way." Ugh, Don Corneo, the richest man in Wall Market, not to mention the ugliest one to live around here. The Don was a sleaze ball who would try anything to get a woman in his bed. Lately, there's been some word out that he's looking to settle down and is in the market for a bride…I fear for every single woman in Wall Market.

We reached the front of the mansion, and stopped to talk to the guard.

"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market." Not to mention the ugliest, "Look, the Don's not into men, so don't let me catch you sneaking around here again…" He warned Cloud, before looking over at me and Aerith. "Hey, you got two other cute ones with you!"

Aerith and I pulled Cloud far away enough so the other guy couldn't hear. "I'll go in and take a look. I'll be sure to tell Tifa about you." Aerith began to run back to the guy, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"No! You cant!" Cloud exclaimed as Aerith moved back to us.

"Why?" Aerith asked, a confused look on her face. I mentally smacked my forehead about how she didn't realize what was inside

"You DO know what kind of place this is, don't you?" Cloud asked.

"Well, I can take Mimi with me…"

I jumped, shaking my head vigorously. "Uh-unh! Aint no way I'm going in there where there's a bunch a sleaze balls! I'd rather not be violated like that! Unless Cloud goes, then I'll go."

She sighed, turning her attention back to Cloud. "Then what am I supposed to do? You want to go in with me?"

"Well, being a man, that'll be pretty hard. Besides, if I bust in there, it'll cause to much commotion." I figured out an idea that would work, and I immediately whispered it to Aerith as we both moved aside and began laughing, listening to Cloud continue. "But, I cant just let either of you go in alone….Oh, man…" Aerith and I continued to laugh quietly, "First…we need to find out if Tifa's alright…Huh?" He turned to look at us, confused. "What's so funny?"

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I couldn't contain the silent laughing, and I just let it out while Aerith explained my idea to Cloud.

"Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."

"WHAT!" I stopped laughing and moved to stand in front of him, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically, while Aerith went back to explain that we would be back with another 'cute' friend.

"I know where we can get a discount on dresses. I happen to be friends with the owners daughter." I explained as I walked us to the said shop. We walked inside, and I walked up to the counter. "Hey, Diana!"

She looked over at me and smiled, sending me a wave. "Oh, hi Mimi! What brings you here?"

"Well, we need to get a dress." I explained. Diana all the sudden got this worried look on her face.

"Umm, it might take time. Will that be alright?" Diana asked, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"What's the problem?" Aerith asked, stepping up to the counter.

"Well, my father is the owner and lately, he's been in slump. You see, he makes all the dresses."

"And where is your father?" Aerith asked.

"He's probably plastered at the bar." Wow, the old man was in a slump.

"So, you're saying we cant get a dress unless we do something about your father?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry, he's caused so much trouble! Would you help me bring him back?"

"Aerith, Cloud, you two go get him. I'll stay here and get to work!" I said, moving over to the material shelf and searching for something nice looking. I looked over when I noticed they hadn't left yet. "Oh! I forgot to mention I used to work here about a year ago. Now that you know, go along and find her crazy old man!"

Both left, and I got to work.

0o000o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

**After the owner of the shop comes back, and makes Cloud's dress, and Mimi finishes making her own-**

"Now, go on Cloud and try it on, along with the wig!" I said, pushing him into the changing room.

After a minute or two, he came back out in his disguise, and we all stared in awe. "Wow…" I mumbled to myself. He looked like a girl, and I'm pretty sure this was good enough to fool anyone.

"Hmm…not bad! This may be a new business for me." Diana's father stated.

"Yeah, you're right. I think we should try it! Thank you so much! My dad has his motivation back, so the dresses are on the house." Diana said, grinning happily.

"Walk more nicely like this, 'Miss' Cloud." I giggled as Aerith showed him how to walk.

"Oh, you're so cute Miss Cloud!" I exclaimed, running into the dressing room and putting on my creation, coming back out and getting a few 'wows' from everyone else.

After we had all gotten dressed, we headed back to the mansion.

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A/N: So, was it good, or bad? Let me know! LATER TATERS!


	6. Corneo Reveals The Plans!

A/N: Yay! People actually like the story! Ok, so I hope that this chapter lives up to peoples standards, because it took me really long to type it all up! Maybe I should stop watching TV when writing….But whatever! Now! GO! Go and read this horrifyingly long chapter!

Disclaimer: Me no own! Mimi Collins and anything related to her belong to me! Everything else belongs to Square Enix!

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5. Corneo Reveals the Plans!

As we walked up to the guard at the mansion, he gave a wolf whistle when he saw us. "Damn! Your friends hot, too!"

I saw Cloud open his mouth to retort something back, but I kicked him in the leg. "Whatever you do, don't talk." Thankfully, he remained silent as the guard let us in.

Once inside, we walked over to the desk. "Hey, ladies." The man behind the desk waved us over. "I'll go and let the Don know you're here. Wait right here, and don't go wandering around…" He walked out and to a back room, leaving Cloud, Aerith, and I in the lobby. Once we were sure he was gone and out of hearing range, I spoke up.

"Now's our chance! Let's find Tifa. Follow me." I headed up the stairs, both of them close behind me.

"Mimi, how come you know where to go?" Cloud asked me as we walked up the stairs.

"I've been here once or twice." His eyes widened in shock, causing me to laugh. "Relax. One of the Don's right hand men, Skotch, has a very strange obsession with me. He's kidnapped me at least once or twice, but I always manage to escape!" I opened the door that led down to the basement. "She's probably down here." I went first, followed by Cloud, who eventually got ahead of me, leaving me to walk with Aerith. When we got to the end of the stairs, Cloud advanced over to Tifa, but he stopped running back and keeping his back towards her.

I giggled, earning a glare from Cloud while Aerith ran over to Tifa. "Tifa?" Tifa walked over to Aerith, while I continued to giggle at Cloud, "Nice to meet you. I'm Aerith."

I ran over to stand next to Aerith, speaking to Tifa before she could say anything else. "You wanna explain why the hell you're down in The Don's basement?" I asked, crossing my arm across my chest and giving her a 'I want an answer' look.

She didn't answer, but turned her attention back to Aerith. "Hey, you're the one that was with Cloud in the park."

Aerith nodded. "Right, with Cloud." As the two went on to talk about their relationship status with said blond, I sighed before interrupting.

"Poor Cloud, having to stand here and listen to you two call him nothing," I smiled before turning my head to glance at Cloud over my shoulder. "Right, Cloud?"

Tifa gave us all a confused look. "Cloud?" Cloud sighed before turning around to face the rest of us, moving over to where Tifa could see him. She looked at him closely for a moment, before her eyes widened in shock. "Cloud! Why are you dressed like that! And what are you doing here!" She shook her head before asking more questions. "Forget that, what happened to you after the fall! Are you hurt!"

I sighed,_ 'Leave it to Tifa to worry…'_

Cloud waved a hand that gestured for her to stop talking. "Hey, give me a chance to answer. I'm dressed like this…..because there was no other way to get in here."

"And because I made him…" I added in, earning a small glare from Cloud.

"I'm all right. Aerith helped me out." Cloud finished. Tifa looked somewhat dejected as Cloud mentioned that Aerith was the one who had helped him, but he didn't ask anything about it, getting straight to the actual point. "Tifa, explain. What are you doing in a place like this?"

She looked at Cloud and then at me, nervously, "Yeah, ummm…." Aerith, being the kind and polite person she is, spoke up, cleared her throat and excused herself, moving to stand away from the three of us, hands covering her ears. Tifa stared at her for a second before looking back at us. "I'm glad you're ok…."

Cloud nodded, "Thanks. What happened?"

"When we got back from the Number 5 reactor, and after Mimi had left to go looking for you, there was this weird man. So, Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him."

"That's when the Don's name popped up." Cloud finished for her.

Tifa nodded, "Right, Don Corneo. Barret told me to leave the leech alone….But something's been bothering me." She stated, putting a hand to her chin as she thought.

"I think I see why you came here now. You wanted to get the story straight from the sleazebags mouth, right?" I asked, and she nodded.

"So, I made it here, but now I'm in a bind." She explained, looking at us.

My eyes widened when I realized what that bind was, and I groaned, putting a hand to my face. "Corneo's looking for a bride….oh, great…just great! Everyday, Corneo get's at least three to four girls, chooses one of them, and then…oh, god, I think I'm gonna be sick…" I said, wincing as my stomach began to hurt from the very thought.

"Anyway, I have to be the girl…or I'm out for tonight." Tifa said.

Aerith turned back around to look at us, an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry…but I overheard. If you know at least three or four girls, there's no problem, right?"

"I guess so, but…." Aerith cut her off.

"We have three here, right?" Aerith asked, and Tifa nodded.

"No, Aerith! I cant have you get involved." Cloud objected.

"Oh? So it's alright for Mimi and Tifa to be in danger?" Aerith asked.

"No, I don't want Mimi or Tifa in…."

Tifa moved to stand next to Aerith, "Is it all right?"

Aerith nodded, "I grew up in the slums…I'm used to danger. Do you trust me?" Aerith asked.

Tifa nodded. "Yes. Thanks, Ms. Aerith."

"Call me Aerith," Aerith said, turning to look at me with a smile. "What about you, Mimi? Do you trust me too?"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed, grinning at her as ran over to stand next to them.

"HEEEEY!" We all turned to see the guy from before standing at the top of the stairs, "It's time, ladies. The Don is waiting!" He mumbled something before shouting at us to hurry up.

"I probably don't need to ask, but the other girl is….me, right?" Cloud asked, sighing as we all nodded. Sympathetically, I patted his shoulder before we all followed him out and to the Don's office.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When we walked in, I wanted to scream when I saw that Skotch was in the room as well. We were told to line up in front of the Don, which is what we did. I was praying that Skotch didn't notice I was there and go all perverted on me.

'_Please don't let him see me, please don't let him see me…' _

"Brunette! What are you doing here!" _So much for not being seen._

I ignored his question, and watched as the Don looked at the four of us. "Hmmm! Good, splendid!" He walked around and looked at each one of us, mumbling about who he should pick. I really felt sorry for all of us having to be put in this situation, but I felt more sorry for Cloud as I watched him turn and hide his face from The Don as he looked at him. Finally, the old sleazebag raised a hand in the air, "Woo-hoo, I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is….." Insert mental drum roll here- "This healthy looking girl!" He exclaimed, gesturing to Cloud.

Cloud jumped in shock, looking around nervously. "Wa-wait a sec! I mean, uh, please wait a moment!" Cloud said, turning his tone to sound like a girl.

"Woo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard-to-get! Yeowza!" Oh Gaia, I think I'm gonna be sick… "You can have the other ones!" Now I think I'm gonna be really sick!

Skotch and Kotch saluted their thanks, and Cloud looked at me, Aerith, and Tifa. We all gave him an encouraging nod, watching as he left with Corneo, leaving us with the two idiots. Skotch approached me, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Tifa and Aerith, who only followed as we were all lead to another room, full of sleazy bastards. All of them approached us, and one reached out to grope me, only to get a kick to the face.

"NOW!" I shouted, and the three of us threw off our dresses, revealing our clothes underneath. I threw another kick at several more guys, while Tifa and Aerith took care of the rest.

Skotch came up from behind me, earning a swift punch to his nose, and giving me a satisfying crunch, causing me to smirk. I grabbed him and pinned him to the wall, giving him a fake smile. "Let's get this straight, shall we? 1) Mimi Collins is my name, not brunette, got it? 2) Never, ever, would I go with a guy like you! You're not my type, and you're a pervert! And 3) You're a sleazebag. Now, since I've told you this and have been perfectly crystal clear about what I just said, are we going to ever approach me again?" I asked, pointing the tip of my sword to his neck, earning a whimper from him as he shook his head. "Good. Now, if you do break the rules I just told you, I will personally kill you and feed you to sharks! Do you understand?" he shook his head again and I located the pressure point on his neck, knocking him unconscious.

I turned back around to find Aerith and Tifa staring at me with shocked expressions, causing me to laugh quietly before I moved over to the door. "Well, let's go and save Cloud from being violated by Corneo."

* * *

"Juuuuust a minute!" Tifa exclaimed as she busted down the door, running inside, followed by Aerith and Mimi.

"Yeah, just a-WHAT THE HELL? CLOUD!" Mimi exclaimed, wide eyed as she saw what Cloud was about to do. "Cloud, were you really gonna do what I think you were gonna do?"

Cloud shook his head, jumping over to stand with the girls, throwing off his disguise as he did so, freaking out The Don as he did so.

"A man! What's goin' on?" Corneo asked, glancing around at the four people nervously.

"Shut-up, we're asking the questions now…." Tifa ordered as the four ran over to stand by the side of the bed, each of them glaring at Corneo. "What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us…"

Cloud moved forward, setting a foot on the side of the bed, a menacing smirk on his face, "….I'll chop them off."

Corneo jumped a little, waving his hands around. "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

"Then talk!" Mimi ordered, glaring at Corneo, scaring him a little more.

"…I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do." Corneo exclaimed, nervousness clear in his tone.

"By who?" Tifa asked.

"No-! If it told you that, I'd be killed!" Corneo exclaimed, waving his hands in fright.

"Talk! If you don't tell us…" Tifa began, and Aerith moved forward, placing her foot on the bed.

"I'll rip them off."

Corneo freaked out. "Waaaaaaaaaah-! It was Heidegger of Shinra! Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"

"The head of Public Safety Maintenance!" Cloud and Mimi exclaimed at the same time.

"Did you say the Shinra? What the hell are they up to! TALK!" Mimi ordered. "Because, if you don't…" She moved forward, setting her foot on the bed, glaring at Corneo. "I'll chop it off and feed it to the sharks!"

Corneo began to shake in fear. "…You're serious, aren't you…ohboy, ohbooy, ohboy."

"Answer her question! If you don't…" Tifa moved forward, setting her foot on the bed, "I'll smash them."

Corneo gulped loudly. "…I'm not kidding around here either, you know." He stated, "Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're really going to crush them…literally. By breaking the support holding up the plate above them."

"Break the support?" Tifa exclaimed in shock.

"You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING, and everything's gonna go BAMMM! I heard their hideout's in the Sector 7 Slums…" Corneo explained, "I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6."

Tifa shook her head. "They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 Slums!"

Mimi stomped her foot loudly, shutting everyone up. "No…No, I wont let that happen! I wont let those Shinra bastards do that! Cloud, will you go with me and Tifa to Sector 7?" Mimi asked, looking at him with sad and begging eyes.

He nodded his head. "Of course, Mimi."

She gave him a small smile, before running over towards the door with Aerith and Tifa, Cloud following behind her. Before they could all step out of the room, Corneo stopped them.

"Just a second!"

"Shut-up!" Cloud yelled.

"No wait, it'll only take a second." Corneo explained. "How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

Cloud sighed, "They're sure they'll win."

Corneo smirked out the four. "Woo-hoo! Right!" He pulled on a rope, and the floor opened up below the four, dropping each of them below.

0o0o0oo0o0o0o00o0o0o

" …ey, Mimi…up." I heard part of what someone said. "Mimi, wake up." This time, I heard the entire sentence that Cloud spoke, and I felt someone gently shaking my shoulders.

"Ungh, Cloud?" I asked, slowly opening my eyes to find blue eyes staring down at me worriedly. "What happened?" I asked, sitting up quickly. "Ahh!" I hissed, my head throbbing in pain. I reached up to touch and brought it back down to find blood on my hand.

"You must've hit your head on the way down. Nothing a little cure Materia cant fix up." He said, putting a hand to my head and using magic to fix me up. "There. All better. Can you walk?"

I stood up, my legs a bit wobbly, but all in all, I could still walk easily. "Yeah, I think so." I moved forward, only to stumble and fall again, but luckily Cloud caught me before I could hit the ground, standing me back up and steadying me. I walked forward again with his help, and this time, I didn't fall down.

We moved over to Aerith and Tifa waking them up. No one was hurt thankfully, except for our sense of smell, seeing as we landed in a sewer of all places.

"Well, the worst is over…" Aerith said. All the sudden, a low growl came from somewhere, causing each of us to look around. "Maybe not…"

Of course it wasn't, because a giant Sewer monster isn't the worst part, not my hint of sarcasm! It came up from behind Cloud, glaring down at us. All of us got in a battle stance, weapons and all. I was about to lunge at it when we were all hit with a giant tidal wave of sewer water, knocking us all down. I came up, spiting out the disgusting water. "Eww…"

Eventually, we killed it, leaving us wet and stinky. Yeah, totally gross and all, but that wasn't even our biggest problem.

"It's too late…Marlene…Barret…the people of the Slums." Tifa stated sadly.

"Don't give up, never give up hope. It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right?" Aerith reassured and asked.

"Yeah…you're right! We still have time." Tifa exclaimed, a bit happier now.

"Well, then let's get a move on!" I exclaimed, all of us following Cloud out of the sewer.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the really long update, but I finally got this chapter done, so I hope someone enjoyed this chapter that I put a lot of effort into writing. Leave a review please! LATER TATERS!


	7. The Fall Of Sector 7

A/N: I think that this story is going pretty well so far! Well, here's the newest chapter, so please enjoy!

Disclaimer: The only thing that I own is my characters, this story, and my own copy of Final Fantasy 7.

* * *

6. The Destruction of Sector 7

We ran through the train graveyard, stopping every few minutes or so to fight off monsters that would appear. It was a race against time to stop the Shinra and save Sector 7, which I had every intention of doing. When we ran past the station, the sound of gunfire could be heard, causing me to run faster, along with Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. I ran around the corner, and found several people standing near the fence that closed off the public from getting up to the pillar.

Tifa ran up and stood next to me. "We made it! The pillar's still standing!"

"Yeah, but for how long?" I asked, looking up worriedly.

"Wait! You hear something….above us?" Cloud asked, looking up in the same direction I was and pointing.

I nodded my head. Aerith came to stand next to us, looking up as well. "…..Gun fire?"

"That's definitely gun fire….someone's up there fighting, and I have a pretty good feeling I know who." I stated, squinting my eyes to get a better look. I barely made out the form of Barret, who was standing up at the very top of the pillar, shooting. I saw Wedge up there as well, and by the looks of what I could see, he was trying to retreat. And just as he was beginning to run away from the fight, I saw a bright little explosion that came from a gun just as Wedge was at the edge of the railing.

"Oh, god…." My blood went cold as I saw him fall off from the very top. "WEDGE!" I screamed, running forward as I saw him land behind us, falling onto my knees next to him. Cloud leant down next to me, looking at Wedge with a concerned look while Tifa did her best to hold down the water works. The other people came to stand around all of us as well.

Cloud shook one of Wedge's shoulders gently. "Wedge! You all right?" Cloud asked, worry filling his voice.

Wedge opened his eyes slowly, smiling at Cloud and I weakly. "…..Cloud….You remembered….my name. Barret's up top….help him…An' Cloud…Sorry I wasn't any help."

"I'm going up!" Cloud exclaimed, turning away from Wedge. "Aerith! You look after Wedge." Cloud said. Quickly, I turned to Aerith, asking her for a favor before Tifa could.

"Aerith, please do me a favor. There's a bar up ahead here in this neighborhood called 7th Heaven. There's a little girl named Marlene there…"

"Don't worry. I'll put her somewhere safe." Aerith assured me, before I turned back to everyone else.

"It's dangerous here! Everyone, get away from the pillar, quickly! EVERYONE GET OUT OF SECTOR 7!" I exclaimed, running off and towards the pillar, running up the stairs as fast as I could. The first thing I was met with when I reached the top of the first part of stairs was Biggs, laying against the railing. This time, tears really fell from my eyes.

"Biggs!" I shouted, running over to him and kneeling down. I noticed a gunshot wound on his leg and one in his shoulder.

He looked up at me and gave me a small smile, blood on the corners of his lips. "Meems….s'bout time you got here…"

Normally, I was really good at controlling my tears, but this time, I just couldn't. I was attached to Biggs, the first friend I had made when I had come to Midgar. I will admit, I have small feelings for him, but not too big. I considered him more like a big brother and best friend. "Biggs…I'm sorry I didn't get her quicker….I-I…"

"Hey…stop cryin now…you gotta go and help Barret…" He said, stopping and looking over at Cloud and Tifa as the came up behind me. "Cloud….so, you don't care…what happens…to the…Planet?"

"You're wounded…." Cloud mumbled behind him.

Biggs gave him a small smile, grabbing my hand as I reached out to heal his wounds. "Thanks, Cloud…don't worry 'bout me…Barret's….fighting up there. Go help him…." I latched myself on to Biggs, not having any intention on moving until I could move him to somewhere safe. "And…take her with you…"

"No! No, I'm not going until I put you somewhere safe and sound!" Cloud grabbed my arm and gently pulled me away, me struggling to get free from his grip. "NO! BIGGS, YOU BETTER NOT DIE ON ME!"

I heard him chuckle weakly. "I promise, I won't…Thank you, Mimi…for caring…"

* * *

As we got closer to the top, we noticed Jessie, laying there and wounded. Cloud stayed to speak with her for a moment before we all got to the top, running over to Barret.

"BARRET!" I shouted, earning his attention as we stopped in front of him.

"Tifa! Mimi! Cloud! You all came!" Barret exclaimed, looking at each of us. "Be careful! They're attacking from the helicopter!" Barret warned us.

"Better get equipped up before they come at us in full force." Tifa stated.

We all got our weapons readied. I held my sword in my hands securely. When I heard the sound of a helicopter whirring, I turned around, and got into a stance.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Here they come!" Tifa exclaimed as the helicopter approached them. When it got close enough, a man with red hair wearing a blue suit jumped off and landed onto the pillar, running over to the control buttons in the center.

"A Turk?" Mimi exclaimed, running over with the others.

He looked over at Mimi with a smirk. "You're too late. Once I push this button…." He reached his hand and pushed it. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished."

"NO!" Mimi charged at him, throwing a swift kick to his chest, knocking him back a few feet. She ran over to stand near him, making sure to get ready to fight if she really had too. She glanced at the others over her shoulder. "Cloud, Barret, Tifa! We have to disarm it! Ple-" She was cut off as she got a kick to her stomach that sent her back a few feet.

The Turk stood back up, pulling out an EMR, and flicking it on, static electricity sparking from the end of it. He smirked at the four. "I cant have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks…"

"Get ready everyone!" Mimi shouted, getting into a battle stance with the others.

Reno smirked at her, throwing an attack her way, trapping her inside a giant pyramid. She couldn't get out. Reno turned to look at Cloud, who was growling at him fiercely. "Try and break her out of it if you can." Cloud growled, lunging at the Turk, their weapons colliding. Tifa ran at Reno, yelling for Cloud to go and get Mimi out of the pyramid, while Barret shot at Reno.

Cloud slashed his sword down on the glowing pyramid, successfully freeing Mimi, who ran at Reno, punching him hard. "You're one hell of a bastard!" She stated, dodging him as he tried shock her.

"Y'know, you're pretty rude for a girl." Reno stated, blocking Mimi as she tried to bring her sword down on him. He lifted a foot and knocked it out of her hands, and brought down his EMR, pressing it to her side and shocking her.

"AHHHHH!" Mimi cried out in pain, falling down and holding her side. Tifa came from Reno's side, kicking him while Barret successfully got a bullet into Reno's arm. Cloud ran over and slugged him, earning a satisfying crunch from Reno's nose. Reno staggered back some, looking at his watch.

"It's time…" He stated, sending the four of them a wave before running off and jumping over the side, landing safely into the helicopter waiting for him.

Tifa ran over to the bomb, while Cloud ran over to Mimi, helping her up. "Mimi, are you ok?"

She groaned a little, wincing a bit as she touched her side. "I'll be fine…" She stated, running forward to help Tifa.

"I don't know how to stop this! Try it!" Tifa said, moving over to let Mimi have a hand at it.

She pressed buttons, typing in things, but she couldn't disarm it. She growled in frustration. "Dammit! Cloud, you do it!"

Cloud moved to stand next to her, studying it before shaking his head. "….It's not a normal time bomb.

The sound of a helicopter approaching caught their attention, causing them to turn and look up. In the helicopter was another Turk with black hair to his shoulders. He smirked at them. "That's right. You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Look who's talking, you ugly jerk!" Mimi shouted, while Tifa ran over to the railing.

"Please, stop it!" Tifa begged, causing him to laugh.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha….only a Shinra executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

Barret growled, raising his gun arm up. "Shut yer hole!" He exclaimed, shooting at the helicopter, missing successfully.

The black-haired Turk shook his head. "I wouldn't try that…..You might make me injure our special guest." On his other side, sitting inside the doorway was someone else. The person looked up, and Mimi shouted for Barret to stop shooting.

"AERITH!" Mimi shouted, the same time Tifa did.

The man smirked in amusement. "Oh, you know each other? How nice that you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."

Mimi growled, while Cloud yelled at the man. "What are you gonna do with Aerith?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't decided. Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President."

"Aerith!" Mimi exclaimed, limping forward to stand next to Tifa.

Aerith looked down at both young women, giving them a reassuring look. "Tifa, Mimi, don't worry! She's alright!"

Tseng moved over to her and slapped her, making her head go to the side. Tifa gasped while Mimi yelled. "HEY! YOU CANT DO THAT TO MY FRIEND!"

"Aerith!" Tifa shouted.

"Hurry and get out!" Aerith shouted, and the Turk began to laugh.

"Well, it should be staring about right now. Think you can escape in time?" The helicopter lifted up higher into the air, causing the four to look up at it. Just when it reached a high enough point, the top part of the pillar exploded, bits of debris falling down towards Mimi and the others.

* * *

Everything began to shake, making it a bit hard to stay standing. Barret ran around, looking for something I think, while Tifa continued to stare up in horror. I looked around at everyone worriedly. "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO?" I shouted, grabbing a hold of Cloud, looking at him in panic.

That's when Barret jumped onto the railing, holding a long piece of wire. "Yo, we can use this wire to get out!"

Tifa ran over to us, hopping on first, climbing in front of Barret, me going next and hopping onto his left shoulder, gripping the wire into my hands tightly, while Cloud took the other shoulder. I looked over at him. "HOLD ON TIGHT!" I shouted, and Barret jumped off, sending us flying.

I looked back behind us, and saw as the entire thing exploded, and began to collapse, and the plate began to fall. Smoke and flames, followed by debris came flying towards us, causing me to turn back around. I could hear screaming coming from the people as they saw the plate falling down. We flew through the open gates, and I fell off, landing somewhere on the ground, someone falling on top of me. I could hear the screams of the people as the entire plate crashed down, and exploded. And I did the only sensible thing that anyone could do when they witnessed something like that.

I cried. I cried and I cried. I laid on the ground, probably covered in dirt and cried my eyes out. Whoever or whatever was on my back moved off after several minutes, but I didn't sit up. I just laid there.

"Mimi…are you okay?" It was Cloud. Cloud had been the one that had landed on me. I felt him shift over towards my side as I laid face down in the dirt. He put hand to my shoulder, shaking it gently. "Mimi…" He pulled me up from the dirt, and I kept my face down and away from him. "Mimi, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I didn't say anything, except let out a shrill sob, my entire body shaking as I did so. My eyes were stinging from the tears as I sat there on my knees. I could still hear the screaming in my mind, causing me to cry harder, until I couldn't breath. I looked up at Cloud, his figure was blurry through the tears. I looked over his shoulder to see the entrance to Sector 7 blocked off by a large pile of debris, some of it still on fire, and it caused me to sob even louder. I latched myself onto Cloud, and I cried. I didn't care that my side still hurt from Reno shocking me, and that my leg stung from something cutting it. My physical pain wasn't what mattered. It was the pain in my heart that did. I felt Cloud wrap his arms around me, patting my back as I sobbed, something that he never really was good at. He always had a hard time comforting others. Eventually, my sobbing died down to where there were only tears falling down. I pulled away from Cloud, sniffling still. I took the time to glance down at my left leg, finding that it was indeed in bad shape. I had a large gash on it, causing me to wince when I touched it.

"Can you walk?" He asked, standing up and pulling me up with him.

I nodded my head, moving forward a bit and limping. I noticed Tifa sitting up not to far from us and we moved over to her. She saw us and stood up, looking over at the entrance, where Barret was kneeling, trying to get up. We all approached him, and helped him up. He shook his head before running towards the giant pile of debris. "Marlene! MARLENE!" Cloud and Tifa ran after him, while I stayed where I was, falling back down to the ground. I started to sob again, but quietly this time. "MAR-LE-NE!" Poor Barret…

He ran to the next side of debris. "Biggs! Wedge! Jessie!" I stood back up and limped over to them, crying still. Biggs, Wedge, Jessie…they were all gone. "Goddamn it!" Barret exclaimed, beginning to hit the debris. I wiped my eyes, only to cry again when Barret continued punching the debris. I closed my eyes and looked away, listening as Barret cursed at everything. "What the hell's it all for! ARGHHHHHHHHH!" He's right….what was it all for?

"Hey, Barret!" Cloud exclaimed, trying to calm him down while Tifa did the same thing. Barret only yelled some more, and we all moved to stand next to him. Cloud grabbed a hold of his shoulder. "Hey!"

I looked at Barret sadly. "Barret…."

"Barret, stop….Please stop, Barret." Tifa pleaded, sadness clear in her eyes.

He ignored all of our attempts to calm him down, shrugging off Clouds hand, and pushing me aside, causing me to fall over. He began to shoot at it, anger washing all over him. I looked away sadly, laying down on my back. It wasn't fair. No one should've had to die like that…no one should've had to die period. When you really think about it hard enough, it makes you wonder how people can be so cruel. I sighed loudly, sitting back up once I heard Barret stop shooting. The look on his face was sad and angry.

"It really isn't fair…not at all…"

* * *

"Marlene…." Barret mumbled sadly. We had finally gotten him to calm down, and we were now at the entrance to the playground.

I remembered back to what Aerith had said. _'Don't worry, she's safe!'_ I continued to stare at the ground. "Barret? I think-no, I know- Marlene's safe and sound."

"Huh?"

"Right before they took Aerith away, she said not to worry…that she's safe. Aerith was talking about Marlene. I know it."

He stood up, looking at me in shock and wonder. "R-really?" I nodded my head, giving him a small smile.

"But…" Tifa began, looking down sadly.

"Biggs…...Wedge…Jessie…." Barret mumbled sadly.

"All three of them were on the pillar." Cloud stated.

"Think I don't know that?" Barret growled, sending a look at Cloud. "But…we-all of us fought together. I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"And the other people in Sector 7.…" Tifa said sadly, the screams echoing through my head again as I was reminded of it.

"This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people…" I felt my eyes water up again.

"…are you saying that it's our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?" Tifa asked, sounding shocked.

Barret looked at her in shock, shaking his head. "No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' the Planet just to…build their power and line their damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this Planet! Our fight ain't ever gonna be over until we get rid of them!"

"….If it wasn't our fault, then why did they destroy Sector 7 to get rid of us?" I asked.

"What? Are you saying you don't believe me?" Barret demanded.

I shook my head. "I can only believe the part about the Shinra being evil and killing the Planet. They killed all those people in Sector 7, but why? Because they were trying to get rid of us! So we're to blame too! Think about reactor 7, Barret! At least 98 people were killed, while others were hurt! When I signed up for this job, I don't remember anything about having to take innocent lives away. And now…just look at what our actions against the Shinra have done!" I yelled pointing at the gate. "If it isn't our fault…then why does it feel like it is?" I moved forward and began to limp off, leaving them behind.

Life is something precious. It's so precious that, if you're not careful, it can be taken away right before your eyes. Just like today.

* * *

A/N: Wow, I actually think that I did a good job on this chapter! Tell me what you all thought!


	8. The Origin of The Flower Girl

A/N: Ok, so I need reviews people! Please! Go on and enjoy the next chapter!

Disclaimer: How many times must I tell you, I own nothing except my characters and this story!

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7. The Origin of The Flower Girl

I limped through the construction yard until I could no longer limp anymore. My leg that had been cut throbbed as I walked, so I had to stop. I sat down and leant against a fence, keeping my gaze on the ground. I probably should've have stayed with the others so I could've had one of them help me walk. I sighed, blowing a strand of brown hair out my face, watching it fly up and back down. My eyes were sore from all the crying and yelling I had done. I was tired, and if someone didn't come soon, I was gonna fall asleep.

I heard the sound of footsteps, causing me to look over to my left. There, I saw Cloud walking over to me, Tifa and Barret right behind him. He looked at me with an emotionless face before moving over to me and helping me up, slinging one of my arms over his shoulders while he put one around my waist, helping me walk forward. "So, what's the plan?" I asked.

"We're going to help Aerith. But first…we're going to go get Marlene…and get you healed up." He explained. "By the way, where do you think Aerith took Marlene."

I smiled. "Knowing Aerith, there's only one place and one person she would take her to. And that's Elmyra. If you wanna find Marlene, we have to go to Aerith's house." We entered through sector 5, and I saw a little boy crying, and others all talking and shaking their heads sadly. They were talking about Sector 7. Eventually, we made it to the little house with the garden full of flowers. We walked in.

_Aerith's theme begins to play-_

Elmyra was standing in the kitchen, her back to us. Cloud and I walked over to her, earning her attention.

"Cloud….wasn't it?" She asked, turning around to face us with a sad face. "It's about Aerith, isn't it?"

Cloud looked down at the floor sadly. "…Sorry. The Shinra have her"

Elmyra sighed moving away from us. "I know. They took her from here." She explained.

"They were here?" Cloud asked.

She turned around and nodded. "That's what Aerith wanted…"

I sat down in one of the chairs at the table, looking up at Elmyra. "Elmyra, why is Shinra after Aerith?" I casted cure on myself, watching as the gash on my leg disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"Aerith is an Ancient. The sole survivor." Elmyra said, her back facing us again.

This time, Barret moved forward. "…What did you say? But, aren't you her mother?"

Elmyra looked down at the floor, shaking her head. "…Not her real mother. Oh…it must've been 15 years ago…during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away called Wutai."

"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."

_A younger version of Elmyra walks towards the station just as a train pulls in. There were already several people waiting for the passengers to get off. Elmyra stood by the steps, and talked to a young couple that had just walked by. The younger woman had wished Elmyra a happy future with her husband before she and her own husband set off. Elmyra turned her attention back to the train, only to see that the doors were closing. She ran forward, stopping the conductor. _

"_Wait a moment! Are you sure that that's everyone? My husband was supposed to come home on leave on this very train." _

_The conductor shook his head, giving her a small sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry ma'am, but that's everyone today. Come back tomorrow to check." He said, giving the train the go ahead to leave. Elmyra moved off as the train whistle blew, and the rain pulled out of the station while she stood on the steps with her head hanging down sadly. _

"My husband never came back. I wonder if something happened to him? No, I'm sure that his leave was just canceled. So I went to the station everyday. And then, one day…."

_Elmyra strolled back down to the station like she had been for the past few weeks. Immediately, she was met with the sound of a child crying. She looked over by the stairs and found a woman laying on the ground with a little girl standing over her, crying. She ran over to the two, kneeling down next to the woman. _

"_Are you ok?" Elmyra asked while the little girl ran over to stand next to her. _

"_P-please help my momma!" She sobbed. Elmyra turned her attention back to the woman, who had opened her eyes and her head turned to look up at Elmyra. _

"_Please….please take care of Aerith….take her somewhere safe." She whispered before closing her eyes again. She died. The little girl latched onto Elmyra, who only hugged her in comfort. _

"You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were to take Aerith somewhere safe. My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So, I decided to take her home with me. Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything."

"_Momma, momma!" Aerith cried as she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, tripping as she neared the table. _

"_Aerith, are you ok?" Elmyra asked as she saw her fall, moving over to help her up._

_Aerith giggled. "Yep!" she started to run along again. _

"She told me that she had escaped from some research lab somewhere. And that her mother had returned to the Planet, so she wasn't lonely…and many other things as well." Elmyra went on about everything, telling us about how Aerith had sensed Elmyra's husbands spirit trying to come say goodbye, and how Tseng of the Turks had said that Aerith would bring happiness to everyone, and how Aerith denied the fact that it was true, even though Elmyra knew that it was.

"It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years." Cloud said as soon as Elmyra had finished her story.

Elmyra nodded in agreement. "The Shinra needed her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her…"

"But why now….why would they choose to take action right now when they had the chance to all these years?" I asked aloud, looking at the floor in thought. "Unless…they chose a moment to take her when she was at a weak point. Elmyra?" She turned her attention to me. "Aerith brought a little girl here with her, didn't she?" Elmyra nodded her head.

"On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough." Elmyra hung her head down sadly.

"So she agreed to go with him in exchange for her safety…He knew that she would do anything to keep Marlene safe…" I mumbled to myself.

"Must be Marlene." Cloud said, stating the obvious, and catching Barret's attention.

"Marlene! Aerith was caught because of Marlene?" Barret moved forward to stand in front of Elmyra, hanging his head down sadly. "I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter. I'm….really…sorry…"

The two went on, talking for a few more minutes before Elmyra told Barret where Marlene was, allowing him to head off upstairs, leaving the rest of us behind. Tifa looked down at the floor shamefully. "It's my fault…I'm the one who got Aerith involved in this."

Elmyra shook her head. "Don't say that. Aerith doesn't think that." She assured her.

I noticed Cloud moving up towards the stairs, so I followed after him, running upstairs to find Barret hugging Marlene. I chuckled quietly as Marlene told him not to cry, and complained how his whiskers hurt. I stood there a while longer before moving over to the bathroom, walking in and closing the door behind me. I looked in the mirror, finding my face was covered in dirt and soot. I turned on the sink and splashed some water on my face, washing it all off. I dried my face off with a towel, and checked it again. Much better than before. I walked back out and was met with someone tackling my side.

"Mimi, Mimi!" I looked down to find Marlene hugging me tightly, a smile on her face. I patted her head, kneeling down to her level.

"Hi, Marlene."

He grin grew wider. "Guess what, guess what? Cloud said that you are all staying here the night and going after the flower girl first thing in the morning! You can share my room with me!"

I smiled at her, laughing. "I think your dad would prefer to share your room with, sweetie. He's been worried sick all day about you."

"Aw, ok…Ooh, and guess what else! Cloud was asking me lotsa questions about you! I think he likes you!"

I felt my face heat up at the comment. _'Cloud…liking me like…that? No, we're just friends, and that's all! Nothing more, and nothing less!'_ "Really now? Hmm…well, I think I should get some rest for now. Good night, Marlene."

_Mimi laid on the couch while she waited for her mother to finish cooking dinner. She stared up at the ceiling fan, watching it as it spun round and round. _

"_Mimi, when are you ever going to go out there and find me a nice son-in-law?" _

_The question startled her, and it startled her even more when it came from her mothers mouth. "Mom, I'm not even 20 yet, and you're already talking about me getting married?" _

_Her mother laughed. "I just want you to be happy, sweetie. I still want to be around when you find a good man that can take good care of you. Plus, I want grandchildren too!" _

"_Mom!" _

"_What? Cant a mother think of her daughters future?" _

"_Not before the daughter can even think about either of those things." Mimi mumbled._

"_Johnny would make a good husband for you." _

"_MOTHER! Johnny is annoying, plus he's infatuated with Tifa!" Mimi explained._

"_Actually…I think that Strife boy would make a fine husband for you." Her mother concluded._

_Mimi's face heated up with a blush. "Mom, please. Cloud and I are just friends, ok? Besides, I don't know if he's ever gonna come back to Nibelheim."_

_Her mother scoffed. "Please, I know that you like that boy! I've seen it in your eyes since you were a child!" _

"_Whatever, Ma…whatever…"_

"Mimi, wake up…" I opened my eyes, trying to ignore the dream I had had. I looked up to find Cloud standing over me. "We're moving out."

"Right. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: Ok, so the last part that I had in italics was a dream of a memory that Mimi had way back when, before Nibelheim was burn down. So, yea…next chapter has my favorite scene: THE NEVER ENDING STAIRS! Please review!


	9. A Golden Shiny Wire Of Hope!

A/N: Yay! Ok, these are both my favorite two scenes in the game, especially the stairs scene! I don't know why it is, but I just think that the whole conversation that Cloud, Tifa, and Barret have running up is pretty hilarious J! Ok, so, hopefully you will review at the end, because I would really appreciate it if you did! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own characters, this story, and my own copy of the Final Fantasy 7 game, which I finally finished last night!

* * *

8. A Golden Shiny Wire Of Hope and 140 Flights of Stairs!

As Cloud and I walked downstairs and headed for the door, Tifa stopped us. "You're going after Aerith, right?"

"Yeah." Cloud said, while I nodded in agreement.

"I'm coming with you." She declared.

I turned to her this time. "We're going right into Shinra Headquarters, y'know? ….You better be prepared for the worst." I said, giving her a look that said she better listen.

Tifa nodded her head, giving me a small smile. "I know. Right now, I feel like I have to push myself to the limit. If I stay here…I'll go crazy."

I nodded my head in understanding, and the sound of running footsteps on the stairs caught my attention. I turned over towards the stairs to see Barret running down and over to us. He stopped in front of Elmyra, bowing a little. "Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

Elmyra smiled happily. "Yes, I don't mind."

Barret nodded his thanks, moving back over to us. He was about to say something else, but I beat him to it. "Elmyra, Midgar is dangerous now. You should probably go somewhere else."

"You're right," She agreed, turning to Barret. "But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

He nodded in agreement before turning back to the rest of us. "Well, let's go." I stated. We all turned towards the door and ran outside.

* * *

Once outside, Tifa turned towards Cloud, "How do we get to the Shinra building?" She asked.

"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore…." Barret stated quietly.

"….."

Mimi spoke up to break Tifa's silence. "Let's go to Wall Market. We can probably find something there, seeing as how they have almost everything anyway." The others agreed with her idea, and they all followed Cloud to Wall Market, reaching it in just a few minutes. Before they moved out of Wall Market, they stopped inside the weapon shop for a moment. Barret and Tifa were getting new weapons while Mimi and Cloud stood off in a corner, where a man approached them.

"Hey, you're goin' up to the plate? You better have a battery." He stated.

Cloud turned to give him a questioning look. "You're gonna sell me something you just found?"

"Hey, you knew?" He asked, his voice sounding surprised. "But I repaired it, so it's alright." He reassured.

"Why do I need a battery to climb up the plate?" Cloud asked incredulously.

"You'll find out when you get there. How 'bout 100 Gil for each?"

"I think you're-" He began to say 'I think you're full of it,' but Mimi spoke up first.

"We'll take 'em. Here you go!" She handed the man some Gil, taking the batteries from him and handing them to Cloud. He looked at her with a frown. "What? You never know, Cloud. We might actually need them."

After their shopping had ended, they walked out and past the restraunt that led to Corneo's Mansion. As they approached, they saw about three kids talking about something. "Wanna see something awesome? Follow me!" And follow the children they did, running behind them into a giant alley way of some sort, where there was a large wire hanging down and a little girl standing in front of it, looking up. Mimi approached the little girl.

"Excuse me, but what are you looking up at?"

She turned to look at Mimi. "Everyone climbed up this wire. Looks scary though….brrr." The little girl stated, shivering a bit in fear. Mimi nodded, turning back to look at everyone.

"Can we climb it?" Tifa asked the girl.

She nodded her head. "Yeah. It leads to the Upper World."

Mimi grabbed a hold of the wire, pulling on it to see if it was stable enough to climb up on. She turned around and gave everyone a thumbs up.

"Awright! We'll climb this wire!" Barret stated, his face one of determination.

Cloud looked at him as if he were stupid. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far it goes up?"

Barret frowned at him, waving a fist. "There **IS **a way! Look!" He gestured at the wire that was hanging down, "What's that look like?" Barret asked him.

"Just a normal wire." Cloud answered.

Barret crossed his arms across his chest, looking up at the wire, "Oh yeah? Well, to me, it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope!"

They all looked back up at the wire for a moment, and Tifa nodded, speaking up. "You're right. This is the only way to save Aerith…"

"I agree. Though it may be a bit dull instead of shiny, it's the only way we can get to Aerith. It may not be shiny and gold, but it's our only hope." Mimi said.

Cloud nodded his head. "Ok, that was a bad analogy, but Barret, I understand how you feel." Cloud explained, looking at his three teammates before nodding his head. "Let's go!"

"Hey, Barret?" Mimi asked.

"What?"

"Don't ever use another analogy like that again. **EVER**."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

We were climbing up the wire, Cloud in front, me behind him, Tifa behind me, and Barret behind Tifa. As we got closer to the top, I heard the two kids from earlier talking.

"Oh man! This is horrible!"

"Hey, scary, huh? Dad told me it's the Shinra's doing." Mimi didn't know what they were exactly looking at until they reached the opening. They were staring out at the destroyed plate of Sector 7. Mimi gasped as we stopped to survey it, and immediately turned her head away once she felt tears forming. She nudged Cloud.

"Can we keep going? I'd rather not look at this anymore…." She mumbled, earning a nod from him as he continued to climb back up, everyone else following behind him. Eventually, they made it to the very top, Cloud crawling up and extending a hand out for Mimi. She grabbed his hand, and Cloud lifted her up with ease, setting her next to him. He surveyed everything while Mimi helped Tifa and Barret up. She walked over to Cloud, who was kneeling down in front of some type of light. Mimi noticed a propeller a few feet up from them, and put and two together. She knelt down next to Cloud.

"Maybe if you try those batteries you said were useless, the propeller just might work…"

He looked up at her, and she grinned at him. He rolled his eyes, pulling out one of the batteries from his pocket, looking at it quickly. "I guess I'll just have to believe the shopkeeper." With that said, he put the battery in place, and Mimi turned back to look at the propeller, smiling when she saw it begin to move and then stop where they wanted it.

"Told you that we'd need them." Mimi rubbed in, earning an eye roll from Cloud, he shoved her forward.

"Just get on the tracks…"

As they all climbed up onto the set of hanging train tracks, they came across another spot for a battery, stopping to let Cloud put it in, before they climbed up again. The group used more broken tracks, swinging bars, and more pipes and broken wires to climb up to the Upper World. Although it did take quite awhile, they eventually made it up there, safe and sound.

* * *

I looked up to stare at the sight before us. The Shinra building. I looked up at the sky to find a chopper was circling around the building and spotlights that were around the building were on, moving back and forth. That was where they were keeping Aerith. Inside that building.

"Security's pretty tight. We'll have to move fast if we don't wanna be seen." I explained to everyone. Cloud turned around to glance at us over his shoulder with an 'are you ready?' look. We all nodded, and he took off, all of us running after him towards the entrance. Once we got there, we stopped, ready to plan.

Barret turned towards Cloud, "Hey, you oughta know this building well."

Cloud shook his head in disagreement,"…Not really, now that I think about it. This is first time I've ever been to the Headquarters." Cloud said.

"I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to, even for employees," Barret explained to us before turning to look back at the building. "Must be where they took Aerith. The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!"

Barret darted off towards the entrance, Tifa staring at him in shock. "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the entrance, are you?"

He stopped and turned around to look at us. "Well what else does it look like! I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt, and…."

I cut him off. "…and get yourself killed, along with the rest of us. **YOU IDIOT**! The whole point of getting in is not to get caught while doing so!" I smacked him upside the head, earning a glare from him while Tifa nodded with me in agreement.

"She's right. We've got to find another way…"

Barret jumped and began to protest. "Ain't gonna be no other way! If keep wastin' time like this, Aerith'll…"

"That's what I was saying before! If we go in right through the main entrance, then we're sure to get caught, and then what?" I exclaimed, hopefully making my point clear.

Tifa looked over at Cloud and asked, "What should we do?"

I looked at Cloud as well with questioning eyes. He looked at all of us before answering. "I say we don't attract attention to ourselves, which is why we're sneaking in quietly."

Me and Tifa did a quiet little 'Yay!', while Barret grumbled. Tifa turned to him, "See? Let's be careful and found a different route!"

He mumbled a 'whatever' before we all turned and followed Cloud to what looked like an underground parking lot that led to a basement. We followed Cloud in, only to stop to gape at what was in front of us. Stairs….a bunch of stairs mind you.

The first one to speak was Barret. "Yo…You really gonna take these stairs all the way up?"

"Well, we've gotta get to Aerith to help her somehow…" Tifa stated.

"That's a lot of stairs we have to climb." I said, staring up at them.

"Talk about out of the way…" Barret complained.

"I don't have time to argue with you! I'm going" Tifa yelled, running up the stairs.

Barret jumped in surprise, dashing off after her. "Y-Yo Tifa! Don't go off alone!" He called after, leaving just me and Cloud behind.

"H-hey, wait for us! C'mon, Cloud! Get to climbin' already!" I exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him up with me, letting him go once he started to move on his own. When we got to the end of the first flight of stairs, Barret and Tifa were waiting for us, and we moved on to the next flight together.

"Don't know…Why…the hell…We gotta….climb…" Barret said, panting in between as he ran.

"…Because we don't want to start a commotion until we've saved Aerith." Cloud stated, not even panting between his words. "I doubt that's possible though…."

All of the sudden, Barret began to laugh, and I'm telling you, it was a pretty creepy laugh too! "…heh heh heh."

"Ugh, Barret, stop it!" I whined.

"Knock it off. You're giving me the creeps." Cloud ordered.

"So, even you will fight for someone else. I had you figured wrong, I guess." Barret stated.

Cloud growled. "Who cares what you figured!"

"I'm just sayin' mebbe I was wrong…" Barret defended.

"That just goes to show you to not judge anyone before hand." I stated.

Then, Tifa began to laugh really creepily, causing the chills to go down my spine. "heh heh heh….."

"Tifa, not you too! Next thing I know, it'll be Cloud giving me the creeps!" I exclaimed.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tifa?" Cloud asked, not ever getting an answer though.

"….how much farther do these stairs go on?" Barret asked aloud, clearly annoyed.

"Why don't you ask them?" Tifa replied, sarcasm dripping from her words, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"It's not one of them endless stairways or somethin', d'ya think?" Barret asked this time.

"Don't jinx it!" I yelled, "Besides, those don't even exist. Only in movies."

"Right…couldn't be that…."

**Several minutes later, while they're still running up the stairs-**

"Are we there yet?" Barret asked.

"Not yet." Tifa replied.

"….There yet?"

"**SHE SAID NOT YET!" **I yelled, annoyed by his childish behavior.

"Yo…"

I cut him off. "Look, just don't ask anymore! We're very, very, very, VERY far from being there yet, ok?" I stepped up onto the next step, only to loose my balance and trip, landing with a thud. "Ow…"

I felt someone pull me back up. "You ok?" It was Cloud.

I looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, though I am beginning to wish that we had gone with Barret's idea now." He gave me a small smile back before we went back onto running.

"Damn, man! I've had it! I'm going back!" Barret exclaimed.

"You do that and it'll just take you twice as long as it did coming up." I stated, giving him a smirk.

"….." I was met by a long silence, and I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. As we got to the top of the next flight, Barret and Tifa stopped, Tifa looking down at Barret, who was bent over, huffing and puffing.

"C'mon, Barret. Pull it together!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Yeah, well all I know is I'm just flesh 'n' blood….'cept for this arm of mine." Barret said, "Don't treat me like I'm some ex-member of SOLDIER or somethin'…."

"What about me and Mimi? We're human too!" Tifa argued back, forgetting to mention poor Cloud. I sighed aloud, pushing both Tifa and Barret out of my way, Cloud right behind me.

"Look, you two can stand around arguing all day like 3 year olds, but Cloud and I are going on, so you two can do whatever you want!" I yelled, moving towards the top, Cloud and I running up the next flight, while Tifa and Barret ran behind us, shouting for us to wait.

"Yo…What floor is this?"

"….I gave up counting." Tifa replied.

"I think it's the last floor. I'm not sure though, because I stopped counting after the first ten floors." I said.

"Why they gotta build these buildings so damn tall? That Shinra….they're just no damn good!" Barret exclaimed.

"So now you're saying instead of worrying about the Planet, we have to worry about Shinra building never-ending stairs?" I joked, giggling at myself.

"Quit actin' smart! Huff…..man, I'm beat….Marlene, daddy wanted to see your face one more time…"

"Stop whining and acting retarded, and just fricking **CLIMB!**"

"It's just a bit more!….maybe…" Tifa stated, not sounding all that sure.

* * *

"Oh….thank…..Gaia…." Mimi panted, falling down onto her back, laying there breathlessly. They had finally reached the top of the stairs.

"F…finally….M….made it…" Barret huffed.

"Ugh….no…more….stairs….please! I'd rather die…then see more…stairs." Mimi panted out.

Barret said something similar, moving out and through the doorway. Tifa looked up, still panting. "huff…puff…this really takes a lot out of you…But this is it. We'd better get ready…!" She walked out, leaving Mimi and Cloud behind, Mimi still laying on the floor on her back.

Cloud crouched down to look at his friend. "C'mon, Mimi."

She groaned, still panting heavily. "My legs….feel like noodles…they're so…tired…Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"Next time…we're breaking in somewhere….we're busting in." She huffed, standing up and walking out.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if it was crappy, but hopefully someone liked it enough to review it! Ok, so later taters!


	10. Rescuing Aerith!

A/N: Well, I don't have much to say, except thanks for the people that reviewed the last few chapters! Hope you like this one too!

Disclaimer: don't own nothing except this story and my OC, Mimi Collins, and anything related to her, aside from Squares characters.

* * *

9. Infiltration of the Shinra Building and Rescuing Aerith!

As we walked out, we were immediately met with guards. Guards that had guns might I add. "Destroy the intruders!"

I dodged the bullets they shot at us, missing each one. I landed a few feet away from them and ran behind one, knocking him out while Cloud, Barret, and Tifa took out the rest of them. Once we had that problem taken care of, Cloud walked over to pick up a keycard that one of them had been holding.

"It's a keycard to the 60th floor, just what we need. To the elevators!" I exclaimed, running to the elevator, everyone following me in. It was one of those really cool glass elevators, so I was kind of happy. Cloud pressed the button for the 60th floor, and we began to move up.

"This is the real thing. Don't let your guard down." Barret said to us.

"I hope Aerith is all right." Tifa mumbled, her face one of worry.

"So do I, Tifa…" I said, patting her shoulder, "So do I…."

***DING***

The doors to the elevator slid open and we all walked out and ran to the nearest room, the door sliding open and shutting behind us. Barret was the first person to speak.

"Lookit that, all them guards is runnin' around." He was right. There were guards all over, moving around and watching for intruders. "Cloud, you go on ahead and signal us when it's safe to come."

Cloud nodded, moving out and running behind one of the many pillars. I followed after him, while Barret followed after me, and Tifa after him. I sighed in relief when we ran into the stairwell, thanking the gods that we hadn't gotten caught. Once we were all accounted for, Barret exclaimed, "Ok! We gonna rock!"

I sighed loudly. "Just remember that we're here to save Aerith, not kick every guards butt that we see." I reminded him.

He frowned at me, "Hell, I know that!"

"Then act like it…C'mon, let's head to the next floor. Lead the way, Cloud." I said, gesturing at the stairs. He nodded and we all followed him up to the next floor, which was the cafeteria. Cloud went around, talking different people, and even tricking one guy into giving us the keycard for the next floor because he thought that Cloud was here to repair one of the elevator doors. I thought it was pretty hilarious.

* * *

As the group walked onto the 62nd floor, Mimi thought that it was a library, until they came across the man who was apparently Mayor Domino, the Mayor of Midgar.

"You're the mayor of Midgar?" Mimi asked, shocked and surprised at the same time.

"Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra. My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents…." He explained, sighing sadly before exclaiming, "Me! The Mayor! A librarian! Ohh…the shame…the horrible, cruel shame!"

Mimi's eye twitched a bit at the dramatic scene, turning to Cloud for help. Cloud moved forward, and spoke up. "Listen, you think you could get us upstairs to the next floor?"

Mayor Domino stopped being dramatic, looking at Cloud with a smug smile. "You want to get upstairs, eh? I tell you what, if you can guess the password, I'll give you two my keycard."

"Guess the password?" Mimi asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's it. Guess the password, and you've got yourself my Keycard! And if you get it right on the first try, I'll even throw in a special item!" Domino exclaimed.

'_This guy sounds like one of those people that promotes items on TV…' _Mimi thought, following Cloud out to talk to the Mayors assistant, Hart.

"I'll help you….for 500 Gil." Hart said.

"Forget it, we'll just figure it out on our own." Cloud said, moving off and into one of the rooms that held a bunch of books and documents, hoping to find some sort of clue to the Mayors password. Once Cloud was out of hearing range, Mimi pulled out 500 gil, and handed it Hart, who gave her a surprised look.

"Look, I know that you and the Mayor have jobs that should normally be recognized by people, and I think that you don't get paid as much as you should, which is why I'm giving you this. Now, help me with that password."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Mimi went and found Cloud, keycard in hand. In the end, Hart gave her back her money that she had given him, saying that someone as kind as her shouldn't give him such a high amount of Gil. Mimi insisted that he keep at least 200 gil, giving it to him as a gift of appreciation. When Cloud saw the Keycard in Mimi's hands, he narrowed his eyes.

"How did you get that?"

She gave him a cheery smile. "Let's just say that it was a pretty easy password to guess. It was Best." She said, handing him the card, signaling for Barret and Tifa to get over there with them. "The only reason he's giving us that card is to get revenge on the Shinra." She stated, not really blaming the Mayor for wanting to do so.

They clambered into the elevator, stopping on the 60th floor for a bathroom break, and quickly moving onto the next floor, where there was an incomplete model of Midgar. Apparently, the missing pieces were spread in different rooms on the same floor. Cloud and Mimi took one side of the room, while Tifa and Barret took the other, eventually finding all the pieces and putting them in place, and getting the keycard to the 66th floor. Watching from behind a corner as several people clambered into what appeared to be a meeting room.

"How we supposed to know what they saying if we cant even hear them?" Barret asked, frustrated about the whole situation.

Mimi put a finger to her chin, tapping it thoughtfully, eyeing a bathroom out of the corner of her eye. "I have an idea. Follow me!" She exclaimed, heading into the bathroom, the others right behind her. She walked into the open stall and looked up, smirking when she saw the vent. "Bingo."

"Ain't no time to be playing games foo'!" Barret exclaimed, earning a smack from Mimi.

"No, the air vent you idiot! We can climb up into the air duct and listen to them." She explained. Cloud stood up on the toilet, threatening to kill Mimi if she pushed him and caused him to slip his foot into the open toilet. He jumped up and grabbed the vent cover, pushing it up before crawling in. Mimi went next, followed by Tifa, and Barret came last. As they crawled over to the vent that had a light shining through it, Barret spoke.

"Man, this is one helluva roomy vent…."

"Shhhh!" Mimi exclaimed, pointing to the vent, where they all gathered around and looked down through it.

"Geez-! That's a lotta suits!" Barret exclaimed quietly.

Mimi listened to Reeve, a man that she had recognized from TV, speak. "We have the damage estimates for Sector 7. Considering those factories we already set up, along with all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 billion gil… The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is-"

"We're not rebuilding." The president interrupted.

"What?" Reeve asked, shocked.

"We're leaving Sector 7 as it is."

Mimi's eyes narrowed as she glared down at the people through the vent, growling quietly, only to be quieted by Cloud, who put a hand over her mouth. She listened as they talked about the promised land and the Ancients, and almost bit Cloud's gloved hand when she heard they were going to raise Mako rates 15% in every area. The Planet was already suffering enough as it was, and raising Mako levels would just kill it faster.

"Rate Hike! Rate Hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our space program in the budget!" One man said in an annoying sing-song voice, making Mimi and Cloud slightly wince. The president then went on to say increasing income rates, meaning people would become even poorer than they already were.

"Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…" Reeve stated.

"It'll be alright." The president reassured him, "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more."

'_Yeah, trust them to ruin their lives!'_ Mimi shouted inside her head.

"Ha ha ha! After all, we're the one's who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" Heidegger exclaimed.

"That dirty bastard!" Barret mumbled quietly, his anger showing on his face.

Mimi watched as a man in a lab coat came in, approaching the end of the table. "Hojo. How's the girl?" The president asked.

"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference 18%." Hojo said, Mimi frowning at his words, pulling Cloud's hand away from her face.

"How long will the research take?" Shinra asked.

"Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." Hojo replied. "That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could recreate one that could withstand our research for a long time.

Mimi gasped quietly, looking at Cloud with worried and horrified expression, about to whisper something to him, only to have his gloved hand come back and cover her mouth as the president began to talk.

"What about the Promised Land? Wont it hinder our plans?" Shinra asked.

"That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong…and yet has her weaknesses." Hojo stated, then laughing manically, causing the hairs on the back of Mimi's neck to stand.

"That concludes our meeting." Shinra said, standing up from the chair and moving towards the door.

The four in the vent watched as the Board of Directors all got up and followed after him, the only woman in the group stopping under the vent and looking up, a disgusted look on her face. "Something stinks…"

Once they were all gone, Cloud removed his hand from Mimi's mouth and spoke. "They were talking about Aerith…right?" He asked, looking at Barret.

"I dunno."

"Probably." Tifa stated, Mimi nodding in agreement.

"They were. I'm sure of it." She mumbled, frowning slightly.

Cloud nodded slightly, turning to glance at her. "Let's follow 'em."

The four backed out of the air duct one by one, and ran out of the bathroom and into the hallway. Cloud was about to walk around the corner, only to stop, pulling Mimi back as she was about to walk out as well. Cloud peered around the corner, and muttered, "Hojo…Huh…?" The four headed up the stairwell to follow Hojo to the 67th floor.

* * *

After Hojo had left the stairwell, Barret spoke. "I remember him. That Hojo guy. He's in charge of Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?"

Cloud shook his head. "This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. So…that's what he looks like…"

"Evil and very ugly. C'mon, we need to go after him before we lose him." I said. We all followed Cloud out of the stairwell, and followed after Hojo, ending up in a room that had a whole bunch of crates, which we all hid behind, and large tank that was holding something in it. From where I was, it looked like a red lion. Hojo stood in front of the tank, watching the creature as it was resting. I looked over a crate as one of the lab assistants came in.

"Is this today's specimen?" The assistant asked, gaining Hojo's attention.

"Yes," He looked back at the tank before turning back and giving orders. "We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level. My precious specimen…" Hojo said, tapping the glass before walking out of the room.

We all got up from behind the crates, Tifa moving over to look at the animal inside of the tank. She lightly tapped the glass, "Precious specimen…?" She turned back to look at us. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

I shrugged my shoulders, moving towards the tank a little bit to look at the thing inside of it. It was sleeping, but…I could see a distinguished sad look on its face. I frowned sadly. "Poor thing…having to stay in a glass tank to be experimented on. It doesn't deserve to be treated that way. It's a living thing after all…." I moved back over to look at the other tank that had a small window that was glowing purple. I peered inside of it, only to cringe and move back in disgust as I saw it was a headless body of some creature. "Ugh…"

Cloud came over and stood in front of it. "Jenova…"

I looked at him in confusion. "Hmm?" He reached up and held his head in his hands, falling forward. "Cloud!" I exclaimed, reaching forward and catching him, knocking us both down, Tifa running over to us worriedly.

"Jenova…Sephiroth's…So…they've brought it here." Cloud muttered as I held him in my arms.

"What're you talking about?" I asked, looking down at him in concern.

"Cloud, be strong!" Tifa exclaimed.

He looked up at me, and asked, "Did you see it?"

"See what?" Barret asked, glancing over at the tank.

I stared down at Cloud as he began to mutter things again. "It's moving…still alive?"

I glance over at Barret as he moved to stand in front of the tank this time, looking inside, turning back to us after he had done so. "Where's its $&*& head? This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'.?" He began to walk away, and I nodded for Tifa to follow him. I looked back down at Cloud and helped him back up on his feet, putting my hands on his shoulders to steady him as he stumbled slightly.

"You ok now?" I asked, watching him shake his head a bit before he nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go." He said, the two of us following Barret and Tifa down the hallway. We reached an elevator and took it up to the upper floor of the lab, where we found another tank, this one holding the person we had come for.

"Aerith!" Cloud exclaimed.

Hojo, who we hadn't noticed was in the room before, glanced over at us. "Aerith? Oh, is that her name? What do you want?" He asked us, rather rudely might I add.

"We're taking Aerith back." Cloud announced.

"Outsiders…" Hojo muttered as he continued staring at the tank that held our friend.

"Shoulda noticed it earlier, you-" Barret began, only to be cut off by Hojo.

"There's so many frivolous things in this world. Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?" Cloud, who had his sword out and ready, groaned, causing Hojo to smile like a mad man. "That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves. Now, bring in the specimen!" I didn't realize what he was talking about until I saw the red lion thingy from downstairs come up and into the tank that Aerith was being held in. I panicked when it began to roar.

"AERITH!" I exclaimed, beating on the tank.

Aerith ran over to the side of the tank that we were all on, beating on the glass. "Cloud, help!"

Cloud growled, turning back to glare at Hojo. "What do you think you're doin'?"

"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species…both of them are on the brink of extinction…if I don't help, all these animals will disappear." Hojo stated.

I turned around to glare at him. "You aren't God! Aerith is a human being, not an animal! Your damn research is what kills things!"

"You're gonna pay!" Barret exclaimed.

"Barret! Cant you do anything?" Cloud asked. Barret nodded, running over and pushing me and Tifa out of the way, standing directly in front of the tank, his gun arm aimed up at the top of it.

"Awright! Step back!" He began to fire at it and Hojo began to freak out.

"Stop!" But of course, stop Barret didn't, and the whole thing lit up and Hojo ran forward. "Wh…what are you do…Oh! My precious specimens…" As he leant forward to look inside, the door slid open, and the red lion thing jumped out and pounced on Hojo, knocking him down.

"Now's our chance to get Aerith!" Cloud yelled, running in and helping her up. Aerith ran out and to us, while Cloud had stopped and a whirring noise came from inside the cage. I had been standing in the doorway, and when Cloud backed up from it, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back with him.

"Cloud…Mimi…what's wrong?" Tifa asked the both of us. Finally, I realized what the whirring sound was.

"…The elevator is moving." Cloud said, keeping a good grip on my arm.

Apparently, Hojo had finally managed to get out from under the lion and he scooted back, "This is no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocious specimen!" Hojo exclaimed.

The lion moved away from Hojo and towards us. "He's rather strong. I'll help you all out." A voice that I didn't recognize said, and I realized that it was the lion.

"IT TALKED!" Tifa exclaimed.

"I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss." The lion said. His voice sounded very intelligent and knowledgeable.

Cloud and I ran out of the tank and towards the others. "We'll take care of that monster! Somebody take Aerith somewhere safe! Tifa, go!"

"Right!" Tifa and Aerith ran off, leaving, me, Barret, Cloud, and the red lion. I moved over to the lion and bent down, a smile on my face.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Hojo has named me Red XIII. A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish." He said.

"Ok then, I'm gonna call you Red!" I said, a smile on my face before I turned back to face the others.

"Come on!" Cloud exclaimed as the monster came out. We all ran forward and attacked.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After they had destroyed the monster, Aerith and Tifa ran back to them, Aerith catching Cloud's attention. "Aerith, you all right?"

"She seems all right….in many ways." Tifa stated.

Mimi looked over at Red as he said "I have the right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things."

"What are you?" Barret asked, Mimi glaring at him for being so blunt.

Red looked over at Barret as he stayed seated, "An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see. You must have questions, but first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."

Aerith moved forward to talk to Cloud. "Cloud…so you did come for me?"

Before Cloud could reply, Red leapt over the rail, causing Aerith jump a little. He landed a few feet away from her and glanced back. "I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard…" He apologized, his voice sounding sincere.

Aerith nodded in acceptance and understanding, and Barret's voice began to boom, "Now we've saved Aerith, ain't no need to be in this buildin'! So let's get the hell outta here!"

Cloud looked around at everyone before speaking, "If all six of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up into two groups." It was decided that Mimi and Red would go with Cloud, while Tifa and Aerith would go with Barret. The groups said there quick goodbyes, and went their own ways to get to the bottom of the building. Cloud, Mimi, and Red walked inside the elevator on the 66th floor, Cloud about to press he down button, when another man walked in, someone Mimi recognized as one of the customers that would come into the bar sometimes for a drink or two.

"H-hey! What is it?" Cloud asked the man.

He pushed his sunglasses up a bit, and pointed a finger up. "Would you press 'Up' please?"

"Turks? Must be a trap…" Cloud muttered to Mimi as she tried to hide Red behind her.

"I think it is!" She exclaimed as she saw the man from the helicopter that had kidnapped Aerith walk onto the elevator.

"It must have been a real thrill for you….Did you enjoy it?" Tseng asked.

"Ggh…" Cloud groaned.

"Busted…." Mimi muttered, watching as Tseng pushed the button for the top floor.

* * *

A/N: Oh, god! This was my crappiest chapter ever! I apologize for it's crappiness, and I promise that the next one will be better! Leave a review please!


	11. Jailbirds for a Night Sephiroth Alive?

10. Jailbirds for a night/ Sephiroth Alive!

"Gyahh, get your hands off of me!" Mimi exclaimed, squirming around in the bald man's arms as he tried to place the cuffs on her. Unfortunately, he did end up getting them on her wrists, much to her protests. The two Turks led Cloud, Mimi, and Red, who they had placed a collar on, up into the Presidents office. There, Mimi saw Barret and Tifa already in there, cuffed and standing in front of the president. The two Turks placed them next to the two. Cloud looked around at everyone.

"You all got caught, too?" Barret and Tifa nodded in response.

Mimi glanced around, her eyes widening when she realized something big. "Where's Aerith?"

"In a safe place," Shinra answered, standing up in his chair to get a better look at the group. "She's the last surviving Ancient…Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they're just a forgotten page of history." Shinra explained, lowering his arms that had been raised, walking over to stand in front of the group.

Red raised his head up upon hearing the words that came from the President. "Cetra…That girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?" Red asked.

Shinra shrugged his shoulders, "Cetra, or the Ancients will show us the way to the 'Promised Land.' I'm expecting a lot out of her." Mimi glared at him as he talked about Aerith as if she were some typed of science project.

"The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?" Red asked Shinra.

The President glanced over at Mimi as he answered. "Even so, it's just too appealing to not pursue. It's been said that the Promised Land is very fertile…If the land is fertile."

Mimi gasped as the realization of what he was saying meant, "Then that means there's Mako!"

Shinra looked over at her. "Your guess would be correct, young lady. That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is necessary. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory…"

Barret looked down at the ground and spat in front of Shinra, "$*^%! Quit dreamin'!" Barret exclaimed.

Shinra looked over at him, shaking his head in disappointment. "Oh really, don't you know? These days all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power." He stated, his tone cruel sounding. "Well, that is all for our meeting."

Mimi glanced over her shoulder as the bald Turk that had cuffed her earlier came up behind them, and shouted out orders. "Come on! Outta his way!"

"Shinra bastards…." Mimi muttered under her breath as they all began to walk away, with the exception of Barret, who didn't budge, yelling at the President and trying to walk over to him, only to be pushed back and dragged out of the room by the bald Turk and back to the others.

* * *

I stared up at the ceiling of the cell I was in as I laid on the cot. Cloud and I were stuck in the cell, Tifa and Aerith in the one on our left, and Red and Barret in the one on our right. This was not my idea of a rescue mission. I didn't have anything to do, except stare at the ceiling in boredom. Eventually, that proved boring, so I sat up and leant against the wall as I sat on the cot, my knees pulled up to my chest. I glanced over at Cloud as he sat against the wall.

"Psst! Hey, Cloud!" I exclaimed, whispering. He didn't seem to hear me, so I got off the cot and sat down next to him. "Cloud, hey!"

"Hmm?" He looked up at me with Mako blue eyes.

"Can we get out of here somehow? I'm beginning to grow a bit restless since I don't have anything to do."

He looked over at the wall for a moment before turning back to look at me. "Don't worry. Just leave it to me."

I smiled, giggling a bit. "Cloud, you're so brave! I wonder how Aerith is doing? Hey, Aerith!" I called, hoping to get the girls attention. Cloud moved over to the wall.

"Cloud, Mimi, are you there?" She called back.

Cloud seemed to be relieved, going on and talking to her, while I occupied myself in staring off in space, not really listening to anything, until-

"The deal was for one date, right?" Date?

"A date?" I exclaimed. I don't know why, but I felt a small pang in my heart for some reason.

"Mimi! You weren't supposed to hear that!" Aerith exclaimed, while Cloud turned around to look at me with an apologetic look.

"Mimi, I-"

I shook my head for him to stop, turning around and letting my back face him. "Just save it, Cloud. I don't really care about your love life. But…I do have a question. Hey, Aerith?"

"What?" She called back.

"I was wondering….does the Promised Land really exist?"

She was quiet for a second before she responded. "…I don't know. All I know is…the Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet. And…..then….The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."

This time, Tifa spoke up. "…What does that mean?"

"More than words….I don't know." Aerith replied quietly.

"…Speak with the Planet?" Cloud mumbled to himself

"Just what does the Planet even say?" Tifa asked.

"It's full of people and noisy. That's why I cant make out what they're saying." Aerith explained.

"Can you understand what they're saying right now?" I asked her.

"I-I only heard it at the church in the Slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is…my real mother." Aerith explained to us, sounding a bit sad.

"I wouldn't doubt that she's wrong…Midgar really isn't safe anymore, like I thought it was when I first came here…." I stated quietly.

"Someday, I'll get out of Midgar….Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. That's what mom said. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but…" Aerith became quiet, and Cloud took it as a sign to leave her be. He talked with Tifa for a few minutes before moving on to talk with Barret. I ignored their conversation, ending when I heard Barret try to talk with Red, calling him boring when he didn't reply.

"Barret, shut up! Hey, Red? Are you doing ok?" I asked, my voice calm and gentle as I spoke to him.

"…Grandpa," Was all I heard him say, sighing sadly after he did, and Barret started to laugh.

"Barret, shut up and be quiet!" Amazingly, he stopped laughing and I sighed, sliding down the wall and onto the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest and crossing my arms on top of them, resting my chin on them. I stared down at the floor, thinking about how much better things used to be before anything bad ever happened to me. And now….everything just sucks and is messed up.

"How about you, Mimi?" Cloud asked, causing me to break out of my thoughts and look up at him as he sat down next to me.

"How am I doing? Well, to be perfectly honest…My life is crap." I said, leaning my head back against the wall, laughing slightly. "I thought that my life would be better when I came to Midgar. And it was…until all of this started to happen. Five years I've lived Midgar….and just when I thought that my life would be better, everything falls apart!" I exclaimed, waving my hands around to emphasize my point. "But….I digress. I would say that coming here might've been a mistake, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found you."

"Yeah…Hey, Mimi?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you mad at me for being gone so long?" I looked at him with surprised eyes. I mean, I was kind of sad that he never wrote me any letters after that first one, but hey, he was a big First Class SOLDIER during that time!

"No, Cloud. You were a 1st Class for crying out loud! Of course you would never get a chance to get to come back and visit all the time." He looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped and shook his head, staying quiet. My eyes began to feel heavy, so I laid my head on his shoulder, yawning. "I missed this shoulder after…you left…" I mumbled, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Mimi's Dream/ Memory from past-**_

"_Mimi, are you sure you don't want me to walk you to school?" _

"_That's ok mama, I can go to the school by myself! I'm already 6!" Mimi exclaimed, holding up six fingers to show her mother. "Besides, all the other kids gets ta' walk to the school by themselves!" _

_Her mother laughed. "True, but those kids are a little older than you." _

_Mimi shook her head, "Nuh-uh! Tifa walks by herself, and so do her friends! Besides, I've walked all over the town by myself before." _

_Her mother sighed. "Well, alright, but you better hurry so you wont be late!" _

"_Ok!" Mimi grabbed her backpack and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before running out the front door, "See ya later, Mama!" _

_That day, when school ended, all the children either walked home with their parents or by themselves, one of those kids being Mimi. Her house wasn't that far, so she would only take a few minutes walking over to it. She headed out, only to stop when she heard kids shouting. On the other side, on the playground were several kids that were surrounding someone. Mimi thought nothing of it until she saw one of the boys push the kid down, and the others started beating on him. Mimi gasped, frowning in anger before dashing off towards the scene pushing the older boys off the kid. _

"_Leave him alone!" She shouted, standing in front of the kid, who was a boy that she recognized from her class, and the one that lived next door to her. She stood in front of him, arms spread out in a defensive stance, a determined look on her face. She glanced over her shoulder at the blonde boy, who's name she knew was Cloud, had his hands covering his face, trembling as he tried to protect himself. _

"_Move outta the way, Mimi!" The biggest one, Jason, bellowed, his brown eyes bored into Mimi's violet ones. Mimi frowned at him in determination, staying in her defensive stance, shaking her head._

"_**NO**! You leave Cloud alone, you big **MEANIE**!" Mimi shouted, putting up her fists so she could fight him off if she had to. _

_All of them started to laugh at the sight in front of the. Jason leant forward, his face a few inches from Mimi's, staring at her with an intimidating look. "What if don't, huh? You cant do anything, you're just a girl!" They all started laughing again, with the exception of Cloud and Mimi. _

_***SMACK* **__Was the next thing anyone heard. Jason flew back a few feet, landing on his back with a loud thud. The other boys turned to look at Mimi, seeing she had her hand clenched into a fist, and it was still aimed at the air from where Jason once stood. Mimi glared at the fallen form of Jason in anger, still standing in front of Cloud. One of the boys came at her and landed a punch to her arm, causing her to yelp, tears forming in her eyes. Her mother told her that no one was supposed to hit a girl, and she knew it was true._

"_OW! You hit me!" Mimi exclaimed, holding her hurt arm to her, glaring at the boy that had threw the punch at her._

"_So, what're you gonna do? Cry?" He asked, his voice sounding amused as he spoke. He aimed another punch at Mimi, only to keel over in pain as she kicked her leg upwards and landed a hit right where it hurts. One of the boys ran at her and knocked her down. _

"_Hey! Get off of her!" Cloud exclaimed, getting up and pushing the guy off of Mimi, allowing her to stand back up. _

"_Aw, Cloudy is standing up for his little girlfriend! How-" Mimi cut him off with a swift punch to his cheek, knocking him back and to the ground. There were five guys to start with, and now there were only two left. One of them landed a punch to Cloud, knocking the poor boy to the ground. The two boys jumped on Cloud, only to be thrown off by Mimi, who landed a punch to both of them. All five boys laid on the ground, groaning in pain. _

"_That'll teach you to think that girls cant be stronger than boys, you big bullies! And it'll also teach you not to mess with kids younger than you!" Mimi huffed, moving over and extending a hand out to Cloud, a smile on her face. "Here, let's get you some bandages and ice." _

_Cloud stared up at her for a minute, taking her hand and holding onto it as she lead the to her house. _

"_Thank you…for helping me back there." Cloud said softly, earning a smile from Mimi. "I'm Cloud." _

_She grinned at him. "I know. You and I are in the same class, and you live next door to me. I'm Mimi!"_

_They talked and talked until they reached Mimi's house. From that day on, the two were never seen walking or talking without the other._

_**End Dream/ Past memory-**_

Movement next to her caused Mimi to sleepily open her eyes. Cloud had moved away by standing up, no longer allowing his shoulder to be her pillow. Mimi yawned looking over at Cloud, and standing up, only to jump in surprise when she noticed that the door to their cell was wide open.

"Cloud, when did the door open?" Mimi asked, pointing at it in confusion.

Cloud turned to look at it, his face just as surprised as Mimi's. "Good question…."

Mimi moved past him and out the door. She looked to her left, and instantly paled at the sight. "Cloud…I think you better see this."

Cloud came out and looked over to see what Mimi had been talking about. The two stood around the dead guard who was laying in a pool of his own blood, a large slash across his chest. "What's happened?" Cloud mumbled as he stared at the body.

Mimi put a finger to her chin, tapping it thoughtfully. "Something's not right….If this guy is dead, and we're out of our cell, wouldn't an alarm have gone off notifying everyone we've escaped?" Mimi asked aloud. "If so…then where's the rest of the guards?"

"He should have the key on him." Cloud mumbled, picking the guys pockets before finding the key and running off to free the rest of the group.

Aerith and Tifa came out from their cell first, running over to stand with Mimi. Tifa saw the body of the dead guard and was the first one to speak, "What happened?"

"Not sure…but something tells me that there may be more than one casualty," Mimi stated, a bad omen building up in her stomach. "I wonder…" She carefully grabbed the dead mans arm, pushing him over onto his chest. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the condition his back was in. "Just as I thought….they came up behind him. Judging by how the blood isn't dried up, I'd say that he was probably killed no more than a few hours ago."

"The hell's goin' on?" Barret's voice boomed as he, Cloud, and Red ran over to the girls. Red stepped up next to Mimi, staring down and studying the body, shaking his head.

"No human could've done this." Red stated.

Mimi nodded with him agreement, "My thoughts exactly."

"I'll go on ahead." Red said before turning towards the exit to the room, and running out the door.

"I'll clean up back here, so you guys go ahead," Barret said, quickly adding in, "And don't get caught Shinra!"

"Right. Let's follow Red!" Mimi said, Aerith, Tifa, and Cloud nodding in agreement with her before they all followed Cloud out, leaving Barret behind to clean up the bloody mess.

As they rounded the corner that led out of the holding cells, Mimi's eyes widened at the sight before her. There were lab assistants laying on the floor, dead, with the same type of wound the guard had. The group quickly moved around the bodies, and entering the lab where Red was staring at a body on the floor, covered in blood. That's when Mimi looked over to see that the tank that she had looked in before was gone, monster and all.

Cloud moved over to it and investigated it. "…Did it get away? Jenova…?"

"Where do you think it went?" Mimi asked, directing the question at Red.

"Jenova specimen…Looks like it went to the upper floor using that elevator for the specimens.." Red replied before running on ahead of the group. Mimi looked down and noticed the trail of blood that the monster most likely had left behind.

"C'mon. If we follow this trail, we can probably find our culprit." The group agreed with her idea, following Cloud into the elevator, up into the upper level of the lab, where they found Red once more standing over another body of a lab worker.

"It looks like it leads up…" Red stated, his nose gesturing to the trail of blood that led to the stairwell.

"Yes…" Mimi agreed, following Cloud and the others out and to the stairwell. Never in her life had Mimi exactly seen so much blood before. The sight and smell of it was utterly disgusting to her, causing her to grimace.

"Are you ok, Mimi?" Aerith asked as she noticed the girl making a face.

Mimi nodded, "Yeah, it's just all this blood is kind of making me sick…Don't worry, let's just get up to the next floor." Once they were all up there, several office workers were lying on the floor, dead. She noted that the blood trail led upstairs…into Shinra's office. They ran upstairs, Mimi entering first, only to pale at the sight she saw. "Oh, god…." Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud ran up beside her, all of them having a bit of a similar reaction at the sight. President Shinra was at his desk, slouched over, a sword in his back. Barret and Red ran in, Barret with his gun arm raised, only to lower it and jump a bit at what he saw.

"He's dead…The leader of Shinra, Inc. is dead…." Barret mumbled as Tifa ran over to the other side of the desk.

"Then this sword must be…!"

Mimi's eyes widened slightly when she got a better look at the sword, memories of that night five years ago running through her head, making her feel sick and angry at the same time.

"Sephiroth's!" Cloud exclaimed.

'_Sephiroth…'_ The once well known SOLDIER's name ran through Mimi's head. "He's alive?" Mimi exclaimed, clenching her fists to her side, trying to rid her head of the memories that were flying through it.

Cloud nodded his head, "Look's like it. Only Sephiroth can use that sword."

"Masamune…." Mimi muttered quietly, mentally growling as she uttered the swords name.

"Who cares who did it! This is the end of Shinra now!" Barret exclaimed.

"Uh!" Everyone turned their attention over to the pillar, and saw Palmer peeking his head out. Before anyone did anything, he came out from behind the pillar and darted.

"He's getting away! Someone grab him!" Mimi shouted, Barret and Cloud running forward and grabbing the man, holding him down.

"P-p-p-please, don't kill me!" Palmer pleaded, squirming around as Barret and Cloud held him down.

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

Palmer stopped squirming around and looked up at Cloud, "Se…Sephiroth. Sephiroth came."

"Did you see him? Did you see Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, shaking Palmer slightly.

"Yeah, I saw him! I saw him with my own eyes!" Palmer exclaimed.

"You really saw him?" Mimi asked this time, her voice soft and sad sounding.

"Uh! Would I lie to you at a time like this? And I heard his voice too!" Palmer stated, "Um, he was saying something about not letting us have the Promised Land."

"Then what?" Tifa asked, "Does that mean that the Promised Land really exists and that Sephiroth's here to save it from Shinra?"

"So he's a good guy then?" Barret asked.

Cloud and Mimi shook their heads, "Save the Promised Land? A good guy? No way!" Cloud exclaimed, "It's not that simple! I know him! Sephiroth's mission is different."

"Don't even think that that man is on our side…" Mimi muttered.

The sound of a helicopter interrupted them, and Palmer slipped out of Barret and Cloud's grasp, making a run for it. Barret turned to look at the chopper, cursing at the same time. "Rufus! &*%$! I forgot about him!"

"Who's that?" Tifa asked.

"Rufus Shinra. Vice President of the company, and the presidents son." Mimi answered. "Might as well go and greet the Shinra bastards. C'mon guys. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: Yay, it's done! Ok, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review! Later Taters!


	12. A Crazy Motorcycle Escapade!

A/N: Feedback is appreciated. Yay, this is my other favorite scene of the game, which is why it's titled Crazy Motorcycle Escapade! I love the motorcycle scene in the game, along with the music, which I find quite catchy! Anyhoo, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

* * *

11. A Confrontation With Rufus Shinra and A Crazy Motorcycle Escapade!

The group ran out and around the corner on the roof, stopping to stare at Rufus Shinra as he spoke with Palmer. "So…So Sephiroth was actually here….By the way," Palmer ran off as Rufus turned to Cloud and co, "Who are you guys?"

Cloud introduced himself, "I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER First Class!"

Barret moved forward, doing his best to look intimidating. "I'm from AVALANCHE!"

"Same here!" Tifa stated.

"…a flower girl from the slums." Aerith said.

Red went next, "…a research specimen."

Rufus turned to stare at the only one who hadn't spoken. She stood there a moment, her arms crossed across her chest, before she moved forward and glared at Rufus with violet eyes. "….Waitress, babysitter, a member from AVALANCHE, and a street musician. Basically, I'm a bit of everything I suppose." Mimi stated.

Rufus smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "What a crew. Well, I'm Rufus. The president of Shinra, Inc." He introduce himself, moving forward and brushing a piece of hair from his face, trying to look appealing.

"You only president, 'cause yer old man died!" Barret exclaimed, waving a fist in the air.

Rufus smirked, before turning his back on them. "That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech. Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working." He said, walking around the group slowly, "The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside." He said, smirking at Mimi as he stopped and stood in front of her. "But, I do things differently."

Mimi rolled her eyes at the statement. "No matter what you do that's different, it'll still be the same thing either way."

Rufus shrugged his shoulders, "Not really. You see, I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them."

"He makes speeches just like his father." Tifa mumbled.

"Well, he is the mans son after all. What else were you expecting, world peace coming from his mouth?" Mimi asked, glaring at Rufus.

Cloud turned back towards the group, "Get outta this building with Aerith!"

"What? Why?" Barret asked, sounding a bit peeved.

"I'll explain later! Barret, this is a real crisis for the Planet!" Cloud exclaimed.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

This time, Mimi was the one to yell. "Don't ask, just go! He said he'd tell you later, so just believe he will and go!" She exclaimed, grabbing Barret's arm, and pulling him back inside the building while everyone else followed after her.

Once inside, they ran down the stairs and towards the door, only to stop when Aerith did. "Cloud…I just thought of something."

Mimi grabbed a hold of Aerith's arm, pulling her over to the group. "Don't worry, I'll wait here for him. Everyone, get to the elevator and be careful!"

Tifa didn't go as Mimi had ordered, staying behind. "Mimi, are you sure-"

"Just go!" Mimi ordered, pushing Tifa through the doors, and stood in place, waiting for her friend to get finished with his business.

**Several minutes later-**

Cloud ran down the stairs and over to Mimi, who looked at him with confused eyes. "Where's Rufus?"

"I couldn't finish 'em. Looks like this's gonna get complicated." Cloud stated, shaking his head lightly.

"Great…just what we need, more complications." Mimi mumbled before Cloud grabbed her arm and drug her to the elevator.

"Listen, we have to get out of here and fast. Do you remember that motorcycle we saw in that exhibition room?" Cloud asked Mimi, who nodded in response. "I need you to go downstairs to the others and tell them our plan…" he went on to explain it before Mimi ran off to where she was supposed to.

* * *

**"BARRET!"** Mimi exclaimed as she ran down the stairs and over to the rest of the group.

"Mimi! Where's Cloud?" Barret asked as she stopped in front of them before running over to the left of the building.

"Everyone, over here this way!" Mimi exclaimed, pointing in the direction she had been told to go.

"Huh? What's up? Where's Cloud?" Barret asked, his question annoying Mimi to no end.

"**QUIT ASKIN' QUESTIONS AND JUST GET OVER HERE! **I'll explain later!" Mimi exclaimed, waving a hand towards the direction they needed to go. "Hurry, hurry!"

Without anymore questions the group ran over to her and followed her.

_Crazy Motorcycle music begins to play-_

The group entered a room, following Mimi to wherever it was they were going. They stopped when they heard an engine that was coming closer, and they heard tires squeal.

"The hell was that?" Barret's voice boomed.

"Nothing. Look," Mimi exclaimed, pointing a little green truck that was out for exhibit, "Tifa, you drive! Everyone else, get in!" Cloud came in on a motorcycle, watching as everyone clambered into the small truck. Mimi turned to him and walked over, hopping onto the back behind him, wrapping her arms securely around his waist.

"This way!" Cloud shouted, making a quick turn around, everyone else in the truck following after him and Mimi. The truck crashed through a wall, while the motorcycle just stayed on the floor path, before riding up the stairs into a darkened room that was probably another cafeteria. The truck stopped next to him and Mimi, Cloud silently staring at something ahead of them.

"Cloud, what're you-" She stopped mid sentence when she saw him eyeing the window ahead. "Oh, no! **NO, NO, NO, NO**!" She exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. "There's no way we can make it through that thing without killing ourselves!"

Cloud ignored her, turning to look at Tifa and Aerith, nodding towards the window that was there escape route. Tifa nodded, and Cloud revved the engine before turning back to look at Mimi. "Better hold on really tight!" He exclaimed before hitting the gas and heading straight towards the window.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

I squeaked when I saw him driving us straight at the glass window, the truck behind us. This was totally suicide that we were attempting…If the glass didn't stab us as we went through it, then the fall below definitely would kill us. "Oh, god!" I exclaimed as we neared the window, burying my face in Cloud's shoulder. Cloud did a wheelie, crashing the front end of the bike into the window, successfully breaking it and sending us flying through the air. We flew and I probably almost cut off Cloud's circulation from holding onto him for dear life. When I felt us land, I opened my eyes to see that we had landed on the highway, and the others that had gotten in the truck were right behind us, while police sirens were going off, probably alerting that we were on the move. Once the truck had passed us, I turned around to glance over my shoulder, my eyes widening when I saw that we were being followed.

"Cloud, we've got troops right on our tail!" I exclaimed.

He turned around to glance over his shoulder before turning back around to look at the road. "Damn!" He reached back and unsheathed his sword, holding it in his left hand while using the other to drive the bike. "Mimi, you have guns, right?"

I nodded my head. I had two handguns that were holstered on each side of my hips, fully loaded at all times. "Yeah, why?"

"I need you to shoot at them while they're back there to slow 'em down! I cant exactly fight and drive at the same time. If they get up here beside us, I can hit them, just take care of the ones that stay behind us!"

"Right!" I pulled out the one on my left hip and clicked off the safety, turning around a bit and aiming it out the one closest to us from behind. I shot at him and hit him successfully, knocking him off the bike. I continued that back and forth, when I saw one pass us and drive right up next to the truck.

"Mimi, get rid of that guy!" Cloud ordered me. I turned around and began to aim my gun at the guy, but I drew back.

"I cant, I might hit the others by accident! Plus I'm low on bullets!" I exclaimed, placing my gun back in it's holster before unsheathing my sword. "Hit the gas!"

He did just that, increasing our speed and getting us right next to the truck. I slashed my sword out and knocked the troop off of his bike. Cloud shouted at me over the engine. "You take care of the ones on the right, I'll take the ones on the left!"

"Got it!"

We went like that for awhile, slashing at each person who came up on either side of us, until most of them were gone. I was a little relieved, until I saw a big metal machine coming at us from behind. I looked back ahead of us, and my eyes widened when I saw that there wasn't anymore roadway ahead. Cloud hit the brakes, and the bike spun around before stopping, allowing us to get a better look at the machine. In all honesty, I was exhausted, and didn't really feel like doing anything else. I watched as Cloud, Barret and Red ran off to fight it, while I trudged over to the truck and sat down against it.

* * *

Once they had defeated the machine, Cloud, Barret, and Red walked back to the group. Barret walked over to the stand next to the truck, looking out to the horizon. Mimi was the first one to speak. "End of the road…."

Barret turned around to look at the rest of the group with a questioning look. "Well, what do we do now?"

Cloud walked past him and towards the part of the road that ended, his back facing the group. "Sephiroth is alive. I…I have to settle the score."

Barret walked over and stood next to him, "And that'll save the Planet?"

Cloud nodded his head, "…Seems like it."

"Awright, I'm going!" Barret exclaimed, his face becoming one of determination as he fist pumped the air.

Aerith moved away from her spot next to Tifa and stopped a few feet behind Cloud. "I'll go too…I have things that I want to find out."

"About the Ancients?" Cloud asked, glancing back at her over his shoulder.

She nodded her head, quietly replying, "….Many things."

Mimi stayed seated on the ground, leaning her back against the truck as Tifa and Red moved forward. "I guess this's is goodbye, Midgar." Tifa said, turning her attention to the violet eyed girl on the ground, "What about you, Mimi?"

Mimi looked up at the group for a minute before getting up from the ground and walking towards the edge of the road, stopping and standing next to Cloud. She was silent for a moment as she stared out at the horizon, watching as the sky began to light up, a pink hue coloring the lower part of the sky. "I have….things that I need to do for myself. Personal…conflicts, mind you. The Planet…it still needs us to help it, and I'm not quitting…not yet." Mimi explained, her arms to her sides, hands clenched in to fists. She turned around giving Cloud a cheery smile, "So, you're stuck with me!"

He gave her a small smile of his own before moving forward a bit, gesturing at the crane that was close to the edge. "We can climb down using this." Everyone nodded in agreement before Mimi grabbed a hold of the wire and slid down first, followed by Tifa, then Aerith, and Barret, who had to carry Red down with him, and lastly came Cloud, who walked over to the group and stood next to Mimi, who was staring up at the sky, a smile on her face. She sighed in content. "Five years….this the first time in five years that I've been able to stare up at the blue sky…" She tilted her head and looked over at Cloud. "Let's go!"

Barret stopped everyone, throwing punches at the air. "We need a group leader for our journey. 'Course only me could be the leader."

Mimi sweat dropped, "Really?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Tifa put a hand to her chin as Barret continued to punch at the air, "You think so…?"

Aerith moved over and stood in front of Cloud, voicing her opinion, "It would have to be Cloud."

Barret stopped mid punch, looking at everyone in the group before sighing in defeat, "^$^%…awright. Go Northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, we'll meet up there." Mimi rolled her eyes as she watched Barret as he sat down cross-legged on the ground before staring up at Cloud, "'Sides, we cant have 6 people strolling down the fields. It's too dangerous. Split us into 2 parties…" Cloud nodded his head in agreement. It was decided that Barret would go with Cloud and Mimi, making one group, while Tifa, Aerith, and Red made up the next one. Everyone exchanged goodbyes and such before they each headed off in a different direction towards Kalm.

* * *

A/N: This was an…interesting chapter to write, and I hope that at least someone would review….Later taters!


	13. Cloud's Story

A/N: Still…no reviews for the last several chapters….starting to worry about that, but I still feel like updating. Ok, this chapter is probably going to be the most confusing of all the others, and here's why: We all now that in FF7, Cloud unknowingly holds the fake persona of Zack Fair, the real second soldier that went to Nibelheim with Sephiroth. In the prologue, Mimi mentioned that she remembered the second soldier had spiky black hair and eyes the color of the sky. Well, she's like Tifa in this case of her memory, doubting her own recollections of her past when faced with Cloud's, plus she has sort of forgotten that the real SOLDIER had black hair, and so she begins to replace Zack's image with Clouds, thinking that it was him that came. You wont hear her really go into major detail of her doubts, but she will mention it some. If you really want to understand what I'm saying, just go on ahead and read the chapter…Note: in this chapter, Cloud will be telling his story in his POV. The flashback scenes will be in italics, and when it moves back to present day, where they're all in the inn, the words will just be normal, and the point of view will be back to third person. Also, when one of the characters interrupts during the story, their lines will be in bold.

* * *

12. Cloud's Story

It was already dark when Cloud, Barret, and Mimi walked in to the town, stopping by the inn. Barret looked around for a moment before speaking. "This is Kalm." In the center of the little town was a clock tower, people walking past it. The rest of the group was waiting in the inn for the three to arrive, so they walked in and upstairs after the manager had told them where the rest of their group was.

Tifa turned her head to look over at the group as they walked in, waving at them while Aerith turned to look at Cloud. "Cloud, you're late!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Cloud apologized, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Looks like we're all here now." Mimi stated, taking a seat next to Tifa on one of the beds.

"So let's hear your story…." Barret said, walking over and standing in front of the blonde. "You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the Planet. Let's hear it all."

Tifa and Mimi glanced at each other before sighing, knowing the beginning of the story already. Still, they turned their attention to Cloud as he began. "…..I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends."

"You call that a friend?" Barret snorted.

"Yeah, well…..He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself."

'_I…I didn't realize that he actually became a friend of Sephiroth's….' _Mimi mentally said, frowning as she did. "…"

"So, I guess you'd call him a war buddy….We trusted each other. Until one day…" Cloud said, his voice trailing off.

Aerith looked at him in confusion. "….one day?"

Cloud turned around and faced his back towards everyone, looking at the wall in front of him. "After the war, it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against Shinra," Cloud explained, his gaze still on the wall. "…..That was 5 years ago. I was 16.…."

_**Enter Cloud's flashback/Cloud's POV-**_

_I sat in the back of the truck, looking out the window as it rained. "It sure is raining hard." I stated before moving over to one of the grunts that was with us, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, how are you doing?"_

_He gave me a week thumbs up before looking back down. "I'm alright…" Before we had set off, he had mentioned something about having motion sickness to me, which was probably why he was acting this way._

"_I wouldn't know…I've never had motion sickness." I explained before walking over to the other grunt that was back here with us. "Everything ok?"_

_He gave me a quick nod, and I walked back over to stand in the center of the truck. "Hey." I turned to look at the person who had spoken, humming in response. "Settle down." Sephiroth ordered, sighing as he did so._

_Instead, I began to do squats, talking to him as I did so. "They gave me some new Materia today. I cant wait to use it!" I exclaimed, continuing my squats._

_Sephiroth chuckled, nodding his head. "…just like a kid."_

_I stopped my squats and frowned at him. "You going to brief us about this mission?"_

_He looked down at the floor as he spoke. "…this isn't a typical mission." _

_I smiled in response, fist pumping the air. "Good!" _

_Sephiroth looked up at me, a confused look on his face. "Why do you say that?" He asked as I waked over to look out the back of the truck. _

"_I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you," I explained, "But by the time I made first class, the war was already over. My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war. That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself." I turned back around and smirked at him, "Say, how do you feel, MISTER Sephiroth?" _

"…_I thought you wanted a briefing?" Sephiroth stated, silently saying that if I didn't shut up, he wouldn't tell me. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly before moving to stand in front of him. "Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There are reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. First, we will dispose of those creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralize it."_

_I looked at him, tapping my foot against the floor. "Brutal creatures….Where?"_

"_The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim." My eyes widened when he said it._

"_Nibelheim….That's where I'm from." I explained, memories of the town flooding through my mind._

_Sephiroth nodded his head, putting a hand to his chin, "Hmm…hometown…." He mumbled. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and the truck shook a bit. _

_The driver turned around to look at us from up front, "Sir…s, something strange just crashed into our truck!" _

_Sephiroth stood up, sighing. "That would be our monster….Let's go take care of it." _

_The two of us hopped out of the truck, and ran over to it, attacking it. Just as I was about to lunge at it, it knocked me down and out of the way, while Sephiroth hit it, successfully killing it._

"Sephiroth's strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality than in any story you might have heard about him." Cloud explained to the group.

Aerith was silent for a moment before looking over at Cloud. "So…Where do you come in?"

Cloud looked at her before glancing down, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Me? I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought."

Tifa glanced over at the blonde, silence the only thing that came from her, the same as Mimi, who was beginning to grow more and more confused as the story went on. "…."

"….and then, we reached Nibelheim."

_Sephiroth lead us to the entrance to the town, stopping once there and turning around to face the rest of us. "How does it feel? It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right? So, how does it feel? I wouldn't really know because I don't have a hometown…" _

_I glanced at him, curiously. "Ummm….how 'bout your parents?" I asked, stopping in front of him. _

_He put a hand to his chin. "My mother is Jenova. She died right after she gave birth to me. My father…." He trailed off, before he began to shake in laughter, shaking his head. "What does it matter…?" He said, silence overcoming us for a moment before he reminded us what we were doing. "All right, let's go," and we walked into the town. _

"**Yo, wait a minute! Isn't that, um…? The name of Sephiroth's mother…" **Barret said.

Everyone in the room stared at Barret as he frowned deep in thought before waving his hands around, "I remember Jenova. That's that damn headless spook livin' in the Shinra building!"

Cloud nodded, "That's right."

"Barret, could you just let us what Cloud has to say, and save the Q&A for afterwards?" Mimi asked, her tone sounding frustrated and annoyed.

Barret stopped and looked at the violet eyed girl. "Mimi, I was only-"

Tifa interrupted him, turning to look at Cloud. "Okay Cloud, continue."

Aerith grinned widely at the three. "It's a reunion of childhood pals!" She exclaimed, pointing at Mimi, Cloud, and Tifa as she did so.

'_If it was, why cant I remember it?' _Mimi asked mentally.

"…..I was really surprised with Tifa and Mimi." Cloud stated.

_The town was quiet. Everyone must be staying in their houses, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they're afraid of us… _

_Sephiroth and I stood outside of the local inn, talking. "We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early." Sephiroth explained, walking inside the inn, only to stop and throw the infantry men that were with us a glance. "All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest." He ordered, and one of the infantry men came and stood next to me. Sephiroth threw me a glance over shoulder, a faint smile on his face. "Oh, that's right…You may visit your family and friends." And with that, he walked inside the inn, while I went and walked towards the three familiar houses on either side of mine, mine in between. I walked over towards the one in on the right, walking over to it and knocking. _

"**Cloud? Did you go into my house?" **Tifa asked, looking at Cloud suspiciously.

"No…there wasn't anyone home…so…I walked over to Mimi's house…"

'_Why…why cant I remember that? I…don't remember him coming to my house, let alone come to Nibelheim at all…why cant I?' _Mimi mentally asked, searching through her memories from that week five years ago, giving herself a headache as she did so. "You…you came to see me?"

Cloud looked at her and nodded. "I did, but no one had been home, except your mom. She said you were off doing something, so I figured I'd catch you later."

_After I had checked out those two houses, I walked over to the one I lived in, touching the doorknob, only to pull my hand away. _

"…my house doesn't have anything to do with that incident five years ago." Cloud mumbled, hoping no one would bring it up.

"Yo wait, I wanna hear." Barret exclaimed.

"Me too! It's been a long time, right?" Aerith asked.

"Tell us more!" Barret asked, "You saw your family, right?"

Cloud sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know if you could call it a 'family'…..My father…died when I was still very young. That's why my mom….was living alone in this house. Yeah, I saw my mom." Cloud said, a small smile appearing on his face. "My mom…she was a vibrant woman. Hadn't changed at all. But a few days later, she died….But when I saw her, she looked fine."

_I walked inside the house and into the kitchen, where I saw my mom standing at the counter, fixing dinner. Upon hearing me come in, she turned around and looked at me. Sheepishly, I scratched the back of my head. "Uh…?"_

"_Ye-s?" She asked, moving around to see who had come into the house. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was me. "Cloud?" She grinned happily, before running over and pulling me into a hug. "Welcome home, Cloud!"_

"_Hi, mom."_

"_Come, come….Let me take a look at you!" She exclaimed, moving around to look at me. "Hmm…" She moved around again and smiled. "You look so handsome! So, is this a SOLDIER uniform?"_

"…_..Mom, I…." _

_I laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling while my mom walked around and cleaned the kitchen. "My, how you've grown. I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."_

_I shrugged my shoulders. "Not really…" _

_She frowned, "I'm worried about you…There are a lot of temptations in the city. I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend." _

_I sighed. "…I'm all right." Of course she didn't think I was…_

"_You should have… an older girlfriend, or just one that'll take care of you. Like Mimi! I think that she would be the perfect type for you!"_

"…_I'm not interested in her like that, mom. You know that." Boy, I hated lying to my mom…._

_She went on and on, asking questions, me answering her by saying that the company takes care of me._

"_I will always be you mother…."_

Cloud frowned, obviously beginning to grow upset about thinking of his mom. "….Let's stop this…." Cloud went on to tell them how the next day, they had went up the mountain, with Tifa as their tour guide, and how once they had reached the reactor, there were monsters being created inside testing tanks by Hojo, and by high amounts of Mako energy. That's when Sephiroth was beginning to act strange, questioning if he himself was human or not.

"I didn't quite understand what Sephiroth was saying at that time," Cloud explained. "I was even more surprised by that fact that Shinra was producing monsters."

Barret stomped a foot, "Damn, Shinra! The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!"

"…..Who would've ever thought the Mako Reactor held a secret like that." Tifa said, shaking her head sadly.

"Yeah…that's probably the last place that someone would suspect to hold something like that." Mimi stated.

"That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters recently." Red added in, "I think we should listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so Barret?"

Barret glared at the lion like creature, "Hmph! Pokin' his damn nose in where it don't belong. Cloud! Why don't you finish that story?"

Cloud nodded his head. "Right. We returned to Nibelheim after that. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me."

"Then he disappeared all the sudden, right?" Mimi asked.

Cloud nodded his head. "We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim."

"The old Shinra Mansion." Mimi finished for him.

"Yeah. Long ago, people from Shinra used to live in that mansion…"

_I walked over to the gate entrance to the old mansion, where several people were standing. Their attention turned towards me as I approached them. I reassured them that we had everything under control before running inside and upstairs, where I found one of the grunts. He said that he had seen Sephiroth go into the room across the hall, so I walked in and found a door that led downstairs to the basement. There was a library down there, where I found him walking around and reading. I walked over to him trying to talk to him, but he asked me to leave him be, so….I respected his wishes. _

"Sephiroth didn't come out of the Shinra Mansion…." Cloud said, looking at the floor, "He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once, did the light in the basement go out…..Everyday, I stayed there in the mansion, checking on him to see if he was alright. And each time I would go downstairs, he would ask me to leave. And then, one day…."

_I walked in, catching Sephiroth's attention. He looked up from whatever he was reading with a hard glare on his face when he saw me. "Hmph…traitor."_

_I looked at him in confusion. "Traitor?"_

_He stood up and walked over to the bookcase, his back facing me. "You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you. This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was a itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on…" He explained, his back still facing me. "At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness," he turned around and gave me a cold stare. "But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving back one whit in return!" He yelled, causing me to jump a bit. He turned to me an pointed a finger at me. "Those are your ancestors." _

_I looked down at the floor sadly, "Sephiroth…." I began, but he cut me off._

"_Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped….They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports." Sephiroth said, gesturing to the many documents piled up on the desk._

_I stared at the documents before turning to look at Sephiroth. "What does that have to do with you?" _

_He turned to look at me with a sadistic smile. "Don't you get it? An Ancient named Jenova was found in the geological stratum of 2000 years ago." He moved to stand next to me, facing the opposite direction behind me, "The Jenova project. The Jenova project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients…no, the Cetra….I am the one that was produced." _

_I turned to look at him, my eyes widening in shock. "Pr….produced?"_

"_Yes…" He began walking out of the room and slowly down the hall, "Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova project and genius scientist, produced me."_

"_How…how did he…?" I asked, running after him. "Se…Sephiroth?" _

_He stopped once he was at the end of the hall. "Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother."_

***SLAM***

Everyone turned their attention to Mimi, who had banged her fist on the nightstand by the bed she was sitting on. Her hair hid her eyes from everyone, but they could see the tears sliding down her cheeks. Her hands were clenched in fists at her sides, and she shook slightly from her silent sobs. Cloud didn't continue as she cried and finally, Mimi let out a shrill sob, standing up and running out of the room, tears falling from her eyes and onto the floor as she ran past Cloud and out the door into the hallway. Everyone stared after her, all of them silent. Cloud made the move to go after her, but Tifa stopped him, telling him that she needed to be alone right now, and go on and finish his story.

* * *

I sat in the hallway, my knees pulled up to my chest, and my arms resting on them. I was…so lost. Cloud….had been there in Nibelheim five years ago…and I never saw him…But…was he really the other SOLDIER that came? I…don't even remember, but I guess that's because I never saw him….I don't even know what to believe anymore. I was still crying as all the memories from that night five years ago came flooding back through my head, and it was unbearable. I remember watching the whole thing, and it would always haunt me, just like the scar that Sephiroth had given me. I had watched my own mother die at the hands of Sephiroth, me being too helpless to even try and kill him then and there. The thought of it made me cry even harder when I realized that if I had been stronger, than none of this would haunt me. Unconciously, I lifted up the side of my shirt a little and glanced at the v-shaped scar that resided there. I ghosted my fingers over it as I stared at it through teary eyes. This scar….it was a reminder of that night. It was a reminder of what went down.

This scar…was a reminder to avenge my hometowns destruction and my mothers death.

* * *

A/N: Oh….god….this was horrible! HORRIBLE! Worst chapter I have written yet! Please, feel free to criticize this chapter because I think I deserve it….and sorry if I just confused lots of people with this….crappy thing.


	14. Cinco de Chocobo Great Ninja Yuffie!

A/N: Ok, last chapter was pretty bad in my view, but hopefully this one will make up for its crappiness! Enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy 7, trust me-You would know it by now.

* * *

13. Cinco de Chocobo!/ The Great Ninja Yuffie!

The next morning, Mimi was rudely awoken to someone nuzzling her hand. Sleepily, she turned on her side and opened her eyes to find that Red was nuzzling her hand, trying to wake her up. When Red realized that she was awake, he spoke. "Good, you're awake. We are heading out soon, so you should probably get ready and go and buy anything you may need before we all leave." With that said, he moved away and down the stairs.

Mimi sighed and sat up, stretching her arms before she stood up and followed Red down the stairs, where she found everyone at a long wooden table, plates of food and cups of water in front of them. Everyone's attention turned towards her as she moved to sit in the empty seat next to Cloud.

"Good morning, Mimi!" Tifa greeted, a smile on her face.

Mimi looked over at her and nodded in acknowledgement before grabbing a biscuit and an apple, taking a bite of the bread, silently chewing. Everyone was watching her, concerned by her unusual silence. After she had swallowed, she took another bite, and looked up, noticing that everyone had their eyes on her. "What?"

"Are you alright?" Aerith asked, looking at Mimi in concern. "You look like you're not feeling all that well…."

Mimi gave her a small reassuring smile. "I'm just a little tired still. Don't worry, I'll be fine once we get to moving."

Aerith nodded in understanding before going on and continuing her conversation with Tifa.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The group of six all stood outside before the inn, awaiting for someone to tell them their next destination. Finally, Cloud came back from the Materia shop and Barret's voice boomed as he spoke to the group. "Before we all go, here's something for all of ya." He went around and handed a small black phone to each person, aside from Red. "This here is a PHS. It'll help us stay in contact and keep track of each other." Barret explained to everyone, "Now that you know what it is, let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone exclaimed before splitting. Mimi, Aerith, and Cloud made one group, while Red, Barret, and Tifa made the next one. Each group went off in different directions for the next town, and would meet up there.

For the first twenty minutes of the walk to the next town, the group was silent with Aerith walking and keeping her gaze ahead of her, while Cloud's was on Mimi and Mimi's was on the ground. Every so often, she would rub her eyes that were still sore and itchy from all the crying she had done the night before. She had slept terribly that night, memories from that night haunting her while she slept. Unlike last night, she felt better, although she was still tired. After a few more minutes of staring at the ground, she looked up and stared at the road ahead as they walked through the grassy plains. The gentle breeze made the tall grass swish and the leaves on the trees rustle. It was peaceful in Mimi's point of view.

"Where are we headed next, Cloud?" Mimi asked, breaking the silence at last.

"Junon. We have to go through the cavern in them, but we have to get several Chocobo's first so we can cross the marsh. There's a Chocobo farm up ahead from here." Cloud explained as they continued walking, the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

Once we got there, we had found out from the owner of the farm that we had to catch our own Chocobo's because the one he had belonged to someone else. We all sent Cloud and Barret to go and catch the Chocobo's, and eventually, they came back….with only three, meaning that we'd all have to share. So, it was determined that Tifa and Aerith would share one, while Red and Barret had the other one, and me and Cloud got the final one. Once everyone else had climbed onto their designated Chocobo, Cloud and I were the only ones still standing.

"I'll give you a boost, Mimi." Cloud said, holding out his hands for me to put a foot in. I did as he said and climbed on first, Cloud climbing on after me, making it where my back was against his chest. I couldn't help but blush at the contact, but I ignored it, hoping no one else would see. I sat there, while Cloud held the reins in his gloved hands, waiting for us to move while I watched everyone else moving away from us. "Um…."

I moved around to glance behind me at Cloud, who had this look on his face that said 'how the hell do I drive this thing?' Sighing and shaking my head and giving Cloud a quick smile, I turned back around to face the front. "Give me the reins."

"Why?"

"Because you don't know how to ride a Chocobo. If you don't know how to ride one, then you driving us probably isn't the best idea. You have to know what commands to give it to make sure it does what you want." Of course I know all of this because I was raised taking care of Chocobo's. My mom was a Chocobo breeder and specialist, so I knew almost everything there is to know about Chocobo's. "I cant believe you forgot how to ride one when I even taught you." That's right. When we were about 12, I taught Cloud how to ride a Chocobo and he was surprisingly very good at it. But I cant say that I agree with that now.

He handed me the reins and I mumbled him a quick thank you. I held the reins in my hands and clicked my tongue, giving a gentle kick to the Chocobo's side. It made a little 'WARK!' and walked forward, trying to catch up with the others. I gave a satisfied smile before kicking it's side again, gently, signaling for it to increase it's speed a little. It moved a little bit faster, and I decided that I was satisfied with the pace we were moving at. It was silent as we rode across the marsh, the only sound coming from the Chocobo's feet as the mud squished between its toes. After a few more minutes, we were back on land, where all of us got off and allowed the Chocobo's to go. Once that was done, we all moved towards the entrance of Mythril Mine, where we all stopped and gaped at what was in front us.

"The hell is that?" Barret exclaimed while most of us ran forward to investigate. Impaled on a stake was a Midgar Zolom, blood splattered all over the place. It was a very gruesome sight if you ask me.

"The Midgar Zolom…." I mumbled, answering Barret's question as I stared up at the large snake with a frown while lighting lit up the darkened sky and thunder rumbled across the land, only adding to the eeriness of everything.

"Did Sephiroth…do this…..?" Cloud asked aloud as all of us stood and stared.

I moved forward and closer to where I was directly next to the body of the creature, trying to piece together what had probably happened. "The Zolom must've followed after Sephiroth, if that's who did this. Sephiroth probably used this thing to stab threw it from below it's jaw. That would explain how it ended up this way. It must've been killed quickly, seeing as there aren't really any signs of a large fight." I explained, looking around and confirming my theory.

Barret whistled. "This Sephiroth guy's pretty strong, I'd say."

"Our enemy is someone that could do this….?" Aerith asked, confusion covering her face.

"You have to realize that Sephiroth isn't a normal human being. With numerous Mako enhancements, you could say that he was superhuman abilities." I explained, "And he's just proven that he's strong enough to take down a Zolom single-handedly."

"Amazing…." Tifa mumbled as she stared up at it.

"Yeah….just fricking amazing…."

* * *

As Cloud, Tifa, and Mimi trudged their way to threw the Mythril mine, they encountered many monsters, who they defeated and got past with ease. It wasn't until the climbed up a slope inside the mine that they stopped.

"Just a second!" The group turned towards the person who had yelled, only to all jump a bit in surprise when they realized it was Rude of the Turks. Mimi glanced up and noticed another person, a blonde woman to be exact, who also appeared to be part of the Turks as well, seeing as she was sporting the exact same attire.

"Who are you?" Tifa asked, Mimi realizing that she hadn't been the one to encounter Rude like she, Cloud, and Red had done so.

"Do you know who I am?" Rude asked, directing the question towards Cloud and Mimi.

"From the Turks, right?" Cloud asked.

Rude nodded in confirmation. "Well, if you know, this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do…"

"Kidnapping, right?" Cloud asked, frowning as he did so.

"You forgot to mention cold blooded killers…" Mimi added in, crossing her arms across her chest, shooting a piercing glare at Rude.

"To put it negatively….you could say that," He began. "….But, that's not all there is to it, anymore….." He stopped, and the group was met by a very prolonged silence, Rude looking around the ground the entire time.

Eventually, the silence was broken by the blonde girl standing higher up. "Sir!" Her shouting caused Cloud and Co to turn and look up at her, "It's alright, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

"…Then Elena, explain." Rude said, gesturing towards the blonde girl.

Elena nodded her head, looking down and frowning at the others, "I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people….Although, because of that, I got promoted to the Turks,…"

"You're welcome then!" Mimi exclaimed, causing Elena to look back down and frown at her,

"In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed and try to stop you every step of the way!" She turned around and began to scratch the top of her head, "Wait a minute, it's the other way around…You're the ones that our getting in our way!"

Mimi sighed, mentally laughing at Elena's stupidity, only to have her mental laughing cut short by someone else speaking. "…Elena, you talk too much."

Cloud and Mimi ran over to see Tseng standing in the doorway, while Elena turned around to look down in surprise, "Mr. Tseng!"

Tseng looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "No need to tell them about our orders."

Elena looked down at her feet shamefully, "Sorry…Tseng."

"I thought I gave you other orders," Tseng stated, "Now go. Don't forget to file your report."

Elena's head shot back up and she nodded, "Oh! Right!" She exclaimed, standing up straighter and saluting, "Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!"

Mimi's hands shot up and covered her mouth, muffling her laughter while Tseng brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "…Elena. You don't seem to understand."

"Oh! I'm-I'm sorry…"

"…Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away."

Both Elena and Rude saluted, "Yes sir!" Both exclaimed before running off in different directions, only Rude stopped to look back down at Cloud and Mimi. "…Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all…with a new weapon." With that being said, he left, leaving Tseng to stare down at the group.

"Well, then…" He stopped, looking around at them, "Where's Aerith? She's not with you?"

"No, she's safe with the other group, that way none of you Shinra bastards can kidnap her again." Mimi answered, her violet eyes shooting a piercing glare at him.

"Oh…Then give her my regards." With that said, he turned around and walked out, leaving the group.

0o0o0o0o0o

The group trudged on through a very thick and lush forest in silence. Cloud was at the front, Tifa beside him, and Mimi right behind. At the pit of her stomach, she felt as if something was wrong. The silence was uncomfortable to her, and she felt nervous, like there was someone or something behind her, watching her and following her. To see if her gut feeling was correct, she stopped and slowly turned around, a frown on her face as she glanced at the trees and bushes behind her, scanning them to see if there was something in them, only to find nothing. Cloud stopped when he noticed that Mimi was no longer following him, turning to stare at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked her, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder.

She nodded slowly before turning to gaze up at him with violet eyes, "Yeah, I'm okay, but…." She trailed off, looking back over at the trees, "I think someone's following us…" She whispered.

Tifa, noticing that her other two comrades had stopped, stopped herself and walked back over towards them, noticing Cloud frowning at the trees while Mimi glanced around the entire area with nervous eyes. "What is it?"

No one replied. The leaves of the trees rustled, causing the group of three to look up above them. Mimi's frown turned into a bored face, before she took out one of her guns and clicked off the safety, aiming it up at the trees. Cloud gave her a questioning look, and she cocked her head to the side, giving him a small smirk before looking back up and shooting at the trees repeatedly. There was a loud battle cry from the trees, and a large and shining shuriken came flying towards them like lightning. They jumped out of the way before it could slice any of them in half, and watched as it went back to the trees. After it had returned to whoever it belonged to, a girl jumped down from the trees, landing on both feet easily, a small and pleased smirk on her face. She had short dark hair that was around her face. She had a headband wrapped around her head, and on her arm, she had some type of armor that, from what Mimi could tell, most likely held Materia slots, and in her hand, was the shuriken that had almost sliced Cloud and Co. in half.

Her features were that of a young teenager, and her eyes were somewhat almond-shaped eyes, concluding that she was most likely not from this continent. Before anyone could speak, the girl ran over to them like a bullet, running around most of them. Mimi realized that this girl was obviously a ninja, and a pickpocket too. With a pleased smirk on her face, Mimi stuck her foot out, causing the ninja to trip and drop everything she had been able to grab, which was mostly gil.

"Y'know, it's kind of rude to trip people like that!" She exclaimed, shooting an angry face at Mimi as she stood up.

"And stealing complete strangers money isn't?" Mimi asked, her tone somewhat amused.

"…Touché. Apparently, you guys really aren't going to make this easy…" The girl said, a small pout appearing on her face. Mimi rolled her eyes, realizing that the girl was trying to get them to feel pity on her, just so she could grab everything else she could. Sighing loudly, Mimi snapped her fingers and hit the girl with a Bolt, hitting her straight on.

"YEOW!" She yelled as soon as she was hit.

Cloud ran forward, sword in hand as he tried to slash down on the ninja, only to have his attack deflected by her shuriken. The ninja jumped back and away from the group, throwing her shuriken towards them. Cloud and Tifa jumped out of the way, while Mimi remained standing. As soon as the shuriken got close enough to her, she slashed it down towards the ground, causing it to fall and get stuck in the earth. While the ninja dashed towards it, Cloud casted ice on the girl, causing her to go flying back and land with a loud thud, while Mimi picked up the shuriken.

"Man…I cant believe I lost!" She exclaimed angrily, grabbing her shuriken out of Mimi's hands as she stood back up, hastily jumping a few feet back so she was standing a bit of a ways from Cloud, shooting a glare at him. "You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"

Cloud sighed, shaking his head, sending her a pissed look, "Not interested."

The girl jumped in the middle of the group, turning to look at each of them, throwing punches at the air in front of them, "Thinkin' of running away? Stay an fight! **FIGHT**, I said!"

'_For someone that appears to be so young, she's really loud and annoying….' _Mimi thought as she watched Cloud approach the girl.

"C'mon….What's the matter? You're pretty scared of me, huh!"

"…Petrified." Cloud mumbled, rolling his eyes as he did.

"Hmm, just as I thought. What do you expect with my skills?" She said, placing her hands on her hips with a very triumphant look on her face, laughing slightly. "If you feel up to it, we can go another round. Later! I'm really gonna leave! REALLY!"

'_Fine by me….'_

"Wait a second!" Mimi looked over at Cloud in surprise, running after him as he ran over to the ninja.

"What is it, you still have somethin' for me?….Hmm, so is that it? I know you want my help because I'm so good! You want me to go with you?" Mimi noted that the girl actually looked as if she really did want to go, and a bit hopeful that they would allow her to.

Mimi gave her a smile, answering her question before Cloud could, "That's right."

"Heh-heh…thought so. You put me in a tight spot. Hm, what should I do? But if you want me that bad, I cant refuse…..All right! I'll go with you!"

Cloud smiled at her while Mimi gave her a larger grin. "Alright. Let's hurry on then."

Cloud, Mimi, and Tifa began to walk away, leaving the ninja to look at their retreating backs. "Huh? Hey…HEY! Wait, I haven't even told you my name…I'm Yuffie! Good to meetcha!" She stopped and mumbled a few things, laughing slightly before running up and catching up to the group, walking next to Mimi.

"Nice to meet you, Yuffie." Tifa said, giving her a warm smile, "I'm Tifa."

"Cloud." Cloud simply mumbled, nodding to Yuffie.

"I'M TIRED!" Mimi exclaimed, falling down on both of her knees, earning a strange look from Yuffie.

"Your name's tired?"

"No, it's Mimi. Nice to meet you…" Mimi mumbled, while Cloud helped her up and told her to climb up on his back, which she complied with happily. Her deprivation of sleep from last night was catching up with her. She allowed her eyes to drift close, but didn't fall asleep before speaking one last time. "Yuffie?"

"Huh?"

"When I wake up…I better find my money back in its rightful place…."

* * *

A/N: So, how was it? Good, bad? Let me know!


	15. The Junon Foretress

**A/N: Oh my…I've been away from this story too long! Which is why I am making this an extra long chappie! Enjoy!**

* * *

14. The Junon Fortress

The smell of fish and seawater caused Mimi to wake up, opening her eyes to find that they were approaching a small town that seemed to be very….dreary in Mimi's view. "Is this Junon?"

Cloud stopped, allowing her to slide off from his back. "What happened to this town? It's so run-down…"

Mimi nodded in agreement, while glancing over at Yuffie, who had a disgusted look on her face. "Eww, gross! It smells like dead fish!"

The group made their way into the nearest weapon shop, which, much to Mimi's disappointment, didn't have a very large selection of weapons. After stocking up on a couple of potions, they left the shop, and headed down to the beach.

"He-y! Mr. Dolphin!" Someone shouted, the groups attention going down to the edge of the beach where they saw a little girl standing in the water, waving her arms around. A dolphin jumped out of the water and landed back in it with a loud splash, surprising the group a little. "My name is….Pri-scil-la! Now you say it." The group walked over to her and Cloud tapped on her shoulder, causing her to turn around and frown. "Who are you guys? Are you members of Shinra Inc.?"

Mimi waved her hands around harmlessly while Tifa shook her head and gave her a smile. "No…stay calm…"

"…That's how it is," cloud mumbled quietly as he noticed the little girls smoldering look.

The little girl shot a glare at them all, "I don't believe you! Get out of here!"

"Great…" Cloud sighed, scratching the back of his head, not really sure of what to say. "Listen, we're not with Shinra, little girl."

As soon as he had said that, the ground began to shake under their feet, the water splashing around slightly as the ground shook. "What's going on?" Mimi asked, doing her best to stay standing.

Barret moved forward, his eyes widening slightly as he pointed out at the water. "Hey! Look at that!" He yelled, pointing at a giant sea monster that had a resemblance to a Zolom, but instead it had tentacles and it looked a little bit bigger than a Zolom.

The little girl began to wave her arms around worriedly. "Be careful Mr. Dolphin!" Before the group could manage to tell the girl to get somewhere safe, she was running out into the water. The monster shot a tentacle out and grabbed her, earning a scream from her before dragging her underwater.

"Hey! Hold on, we're coming!" Cloud exclaimed, pulling his sword off from his back, cutting off several tentacles that shot out towards the group. He wasn't paying attention to anything else going on around him, until he heard Tifa and Aerith beginning to yell.

"Mimi, stop!"

"Come back! It's too dangerous!"

Before Cloud could ask what was going on, Mimi ran straight past him and towards the water.

"The hell does she think she doin'?" Barret exclaimed, shooting off another tentacle that got too close to him.

As Tifa and Aerith continued shouting after her, Mimi dived into the water. "MIMI!" Cloud yelled after her.

Mimi's eyes narrowed when she saw that the monster was actually a lot bigger than she had figured, at least twice the size of a Zolom. Her attention was turned towards the little girl, Priscilla, who was struggling in the monsters grip as it pulled her deeper into the water. Mimi kicked forward, swimming as fast as she could towards Priscilla and the tentacle that held her, unsheathing her sword along the way. With a forceful slash, even though it was difficult to move under water, she managed to cut the tentacle off, earning a pained screech from the monster, the limp tentacle releasing Priscilla. Immediately, Mimi grabbed Priscilla and pushed her up, silently telling her to go first. Mimi slashed the monster a few more times before following after Priscilla, who had already made it back onto the beach. Before Mimi could even reach shore, a slimy cold tentacle wrapped itself around her ankle and drug her back underwater. Holding her breath she glared at the ugly creature that resisted to let her go. She tried slashing at it, but since water slowed down the speed it didn't do much. This time, it actually fought back, grabbing Mimi's sword and lifting it up, throwing it out of the water and back onto land.

'_Dammit! What am I supposed to fight with now? Guns won't work underwater!' _Mimi struggled in the monsters grip. _'If I don't get away soon, I'll run out of air!'_

As it continued to drag her father down into the water, it brought another tentacle around and wrapped it around her entire from, squeezing. She opened her mouth as the wind was knocked out of her, bubbles coming from her mouth. Fighting back made things worse, along with being defenseless. She did her best to keep her mouth shut, but the monster kept tightening its grip around her form, and she continued to open her mouth out of instinct, swallowing more and more water. As a last attempt, she cast a fire spell, hitting the monster successfully. It gave a loud screech, only its grip seemed to tighten, and Mimi began to feel herself growing cold as she continued to struggle to get free.

"There, there…it's okay. You're safe now…" Aerith murmured as she held Priscilla in her arms, doing her best to comfort the sobbing and terrified child.

"Where is she?" Barret shouted, running around through the water. "The things dead! We killed it, right?"

Cloud ignored him as he scanned the water worriedly. "Dammit, I can't see anything with all the blood." He cursed. _'I can't see Mimi…'_

Without another thought to the whole problem, he threw his sword to the ground and dived in. Despite the blood hitting his face, he continued swimming around. His eyes widened slightly as he saw Mimi, still being held in one of the tentacles, weakly struggling for one last time before she went limp, not even moving at all. Cloud kicked forward and pulled her from the limp tentacle, pulling her back up to the surface with him. He gave a big gasp of air as soon as he surfaced before grabbing Mimi and pulling her back to shore. As soon as he made it onto the sand, he threw himself and Mimi onto it, immediately looking over Mimi,

'_She's all pale…'_

The rest of the group came running over to them, all of them with worried looks on their faces. Aerith knelt down next to Mimi and began to shake her shoulders, slapping her face gently. "Mimi! Wake up! Open your eyes!"

"This is bad…You don't think she's dead, do you?" Tifa asked, a panicked look on her face.

A man walked over to them, Priscilla in his arms. He was grayed haired, probably in his late fifties. He knelt down next to Mimi's limp form, bending down next to Mimi's face. "She's not breathing…"

Barret frowned. "Who are you?"

"I'm Priscilla's grandfather." He explained quickly, moving his gaze back to Mimi. "She needs CPR." He turned to look at Cloud. "Young man, CPR, now!"

Cloud's cheeks turned pink slightly. "Mouth to mouth? But…She's just-"

"Don't just stand there and dawdle! You're wasting precious time that could be spent saving this young lady's life!" The man yelled.

Cloud nodded and leant forward next to Mimi's face. When he did nothing, the old man sighed.

"You don't know how? Just take a deep breath and hold it in. Then breath into her."

And breath into her Cloud did, several times to be exact, but nothing happened. Not even a sound came from her.

"Do it again."

And so, Cloud did it again, breathing into Mimi and pulling back to press down roughly on her chest. As soon as he had done that, Mimi jerked up a little, coughing harshly and spewing out several mouthfuls of water. Just to be sure she was alright, Cloud breathed into her again, backing away as Mimi frowned slightly.

"Ugh…" Mimi groaned softly, opening her eyes a bit to she the forms of her friends shadowing over her. "You guys died too? Well, this sure sucks…"

Most of the group cracked a couple of smiles before their concerned faces returned as Mimi closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. "Well, for the most part, I think she'll be just fine now. All she needs is some rest. You should take her to the inn near the entrance of the town." With that said, he took a hold of Priscilla's hand and led her away, leaving AVALANCHE behind.

Cloud lifted Mimi up into his arms and began to walk back towards the town, the other watching his retreating form for a moment before running after him.

* * *

"_So…you're really gonna leave, huh?"_

"_Yeah…Tomorrow, I'm headed for Midgar. My bus leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning." _

_Mimi frowned at him before looking up at the night sky. "You're gonna try to get into the SOLDIER program, right?"_

_He smiled. "Yeah. I'm gonna become legendary, like Sephiroth."_

_She giggled slightly, doing her best to keep herself from crying. "How long will it take for you to make it to First Class?"_

_Cloud shrugged his shoulders, "Dunno…I guess however long it takes me to get into the program."_

"_You seem really happy that you're leaving."_

"_I am. I mean, I've never been out of Nibelheim before, and I've always wanted to see new places. We're country kids, and we've never lived in a city place."_

"_I guess…"_

"_Just you wait and see, Meem's! I'm gonna be in the paper and on TV before you know it!"_

"_I know." _

_**But it's still not the same as you actually being in front of me like you've always been…**_

_**

* * *

**_****

A/N: Too long...I've been away from this story too long! Sorry about the long wait guys, and I hope you enjoyed it! LATER TATERS!


	16. Disguise

**A/N: H-hey guys...um, I realize I haven't updated in forever. And I'm so sorry! My laptop had a virus (which I was able to get rid of thank god) but my laptop now runs so slow, and I'm going to have to reboot it. I just wanted to apologize for my long abscence and explain to you all what's happening with me and that I'm still alive, and that I haven't given up on anything. I just so happened to finish writing this one chapter to a story, that I figured I'd update so I have more room on my flashdrive to save everything else I need to on it. Plus I haven't updated this story in like a year, so I figured I'd give some light to it. I was intending for it to be longer, but youtube runs rather slow since I watch walkthroughs to give me a visual xD So if I apologize for the awful ending :P but I certainly hope you guys like! ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my characters, and own ideas.**

* * *

**_15. Disguise _**

"_**That reminds me…"**_

"_You again? Who are you?"_

"…_**You'll find out soon…..But more importantly, 5 years ago…"**_

"_5 years ago…Nibelheim?"_

"_**You went to Mt. Nibel then, Tifa was your guide, right?"**_

"_Yeah…I was surprised."_

"_**But where was Tifa, other than that?"**_

"…_I dunno."_

"_**It was a great chance for you to see each other again."**_

"…_You're right."_

"_**Why couldn't you see each other alone?"**_

"…_I don't know. I can't remember clearly."_

"_**Why don't you try asking Tifa?"**_

"_Yeah…"_

"_**Then, get up!"**_

"Hey, wake up. Wake up, Cloud!"

Cloud woke up and stood on both feet, walking over to Tifa. "Tifa…When Sephiroth and I went to Nibelheim, where were you?"

Said girl scratched the back of her head. "…We saw each other, right?"

"The other time."

"No…it was 5 years ago. I don't remember. But something strange is going on outside. Cloud, come quick!" Tifa said before running outside, Cloud following after her. He walked over to the group and found Mimi carrying around Priscilla on her back, the girl laughing happily while Mimi had a smile on her face. As soon as she saw Cloud, she let Priscilla down, the girl dragging her over to the group.

"I'm sorry I mistook you for someone working for Shinra, Inc…" Priscilla apologized to Cloud, the blonde haired man nodding.

"That's all right."

Priscilla turned around to look at Mimi with a grin. "I'm going to give you something SPECIAL! As thanks for rescuing me from that scary monster! It's an amulet, so take care of it, okay?" Priscilla said, handing it to Mimi. The violet eyed woman stared at the interesting color of the thing dangling off the chain, mentally grinning when she realized it was a summoning materia for Shiva. Mimi put it around her neck and smiled at the little girl.

"Thank you very much! I like it a lot!"

Priscilla smiled happily and Barret asked a question. "What's that music? It sure sounds lively."

"I heard they're rehearsing the reception for the new Shinra president."

Barret's face turned angry, a bit of glee mixed in. "Rufus! I gotta pay my respects."

"Grandpa and Grandma told me this beach was beautiful when they were small. But after the Shinra built that city above, the sun stopped shining here and the water got polluted…I was raised on that story and I hate Shinra so much, I could die!"

Aerith turned to look at Cloud, "You think Rufus is thinking about crossing the ocean from here, too?"

"What? Does that mean Sephiroth already crossed the ocean?" Tifa asked in surprise.

Red turned to look at Cloud. "Cloud, didn't you finish Rufus off?"

"We gotta get to the town up there… Mebbe we could climb the tower?" Barret suggested, making his way over to the beach, only to stop when Priscilla shouted after him.

"No! No! There's a high voltage current running underneath the tower. Don't wander near it, it's dangerous! But…you might be able to if Mr. Dolphin helps you," Priscilla smiled, pulling a whistle out from the pocket of her yellow dress. "Follow me!"

_0o0o0o0o0o_

Mimi giggled slightly as she watched Cloud fall back into the water for the seventh time. She picked up the whistle that had floated over to her and made her way into the water, putting the whistle to her lips and blowing. She was in the air before she knew it, heading in the right direction. She did a flip and grabbed onto the metal bar, climbing up safely and staring back down at Cloud, throwing the whistle to him. He tried again and made it up, the two going up together, ending up at the airport. Mimi stared up at the airship before them in awe until Cloud grabbed her hand and dragged her inside, stopping when he saw several guards standing around.

"What do we do? We'll be noticed right away!"

Cloud saw a dressing room and got an ingenious idea. "We'll disguise ourselves," Cloud declared, grabbing Mimi's hand once more and dragging her down the hall to the room once no one else was around.

"D-disguise?" Mimi repeated, not quite sure is she liked where this was going.

Cloud pulled her into the room and turned around to close the door, quickly locking it before moving over to a row of lockers, which, to his dismay, were all shut, locked with a combination, save for one, which only had one infantryman uniform inside. Cloud reached in and pulled it out, a thoughtful look and a small smile appearing on his face as he stared at the outfit in his hands.

"Brings back memories…" He mumbled to himself, reaching back for the Buster Sword, "Look's like we'll have to break open a locker the hard-" he just so happened to look over at Mimi, only to stop mid-sentence when he noticed her opening a door, pulling out an identical outfit to the one he held in his hands. Feeling someone's gaze on her, she looked over at Cloud, frowning when she noticed the look he was giving her.

"What?"

"How'd you get that open?"

"I picked the lock," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh…"

She held out the outfit to get a better view of it, her tongue sticking out as she mad a distasteful face, "I know my clothes may not be the most expensive and prettiest looking things in the world, but there is NO way I am putting this thing on…"

Insisting that she come with Cloud was now sounding like it had been a really bad idea….

Cloud only chuckled quietly as he began to put the uniform on over his clothes, "Too bad, you have to. Think of it as dressing up like you used to always wanna do when we were kids." Cloud said, mentally shuddering at the memory.

As Mimi slipped on the blue uniform pants over her shorts, she smirked. "It was so much fun when you played too, Miss Penelope…"

Cloud's eye twitched as the childhood memory from when they were 6 came back to him.

"_Cloud! Will you play dress up tea party with me?"_

Being so young and naïve, he didn't really think much of it.

"_Ok…"_

When she actually went to the trouble to dress him up in a dress no less and put make up on his face, though it had been sloppily put on and he ended up looking like some clown who has having a bad face paint day, he regretted ever agreeing to it. But because she was his only friend and was with him all the time, he couldn't ever turn her down when she asked again.

Thankfully, she hadn't made him wear a dress the next time and hadn't caked his face with make up. She simply made him a wear a girly hat and clip on earrings and other costume jewelry.

"_Would you please pass the crumpets, Miss Penelope?"_

He never asked her why she had given him the name 'Penelope' during their games, so he just left it alone and let her.

Mimi snickered as she slipped the shirt on over head, noting that it hid her chest rather well, though her chest wasn't exactly that big, but it wasn't too small either. "Would you like some more tea, Miss Penelope?" Mimi teased as she tied her hair up into a messy bun, turning around to find Cloud had already finished dressing, and was propped up against the wall with an annoyed look on his face. In his hands, he held the mask that was the last part of the SOLDIER uniform.

She couldn't help but stare at him. He looked…

_He looks very…handsome…_

Mimi, on the other hand, once she looked at herself in a mirror on the wall, grimaced at how…un-cool she looked in the ugly blue uniform. It was baggy, and extremely itchy. It was very uncomfortable.

"Well? How do I look?"

"Scrawny."

"Oh, hush…" Mimi mumbled as she put the mask to the on, looking back to find Cloud grinning at her. "What?"

"You're going to be caught with your voice. They'll know you're a woman the instant you open your mouth."

She thought for a moment before speaking again, her voice deepened, "How's this sound?"

He laughed. "You sound like you have a really bad cold, but it'll do, I suppose."

Mimi rolled her eyes behind her mask and looked toward the door when it suddenly opened, a commanding officer running inside, causing her to nearly drop the rifle she was holding in her hands.

"Wow! You two look great! You remember the greeting procedure, right!" Cloud and Mimi looked at each other and Cloud shrugged while Mimi scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "….the look on your faces says you've forgotten. All right, I'll show you again! Do just like we do."

"We?" Mimi muttered under her breath. Immediately, two infantry men ran into the room.

"Commander! We'll help too!" one exclaimed excitedly before turning to look at Cloud and Mimi. "This is how you do it!"

"We'll sing too!" his companion said, grinning.

"All right! Show 'em!"

"Now, march! This is the Welcoming March!"

"Then! I'll sing along with you!" he raised his gun over his head, "Quietly-! Aaaah! Hey, come on now. Now!"

"And…march-!"

"Rufus-Rufus Shinra-"

"One, two…! Three, four!"

"We-are-Shinra Company-The new-President-"

"Now, shoulder your gun!"

Poor Mimi was so lost amongst the many instructions and annoying song, she nearly fell and dropped her gun. Finally, after a few more moments of practice, they had it down for the most part.

"Okay, we've got it." Cloud told the commander, who grinned.

"Good! Make sure you do well at the real parade!"

Another infantryman came bursting into the room, "Rufus has arrived! Preparation completed!"

"All right, show time! Don't disgrace yourselves!" The commander shouted, running out after the other troops.

"I have a feeling that disgracing ourselves isn't avoidable, Cloud…" Mimi mumbled, securing her helmet and ignoring the itchy feeling the irritating fabric of the suit was giving her.

"Just don't draw too much attention and we'll be all right." Cloud assured, leading them out and after the others.

* * *

"**What the hell were those two soldiers doing?"**

"**I don't know…"**

"**Are the points up?"**

"**This is terrible! Am…am I fired?"**

"**What! You're FIRED! Send those two soldiers a bomb or something!"**

* * *

**A/N: again, sorry to have ended it on this note! I'll be updating this soon! Review! LATER TATERS!**


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